With You
by magic-reeni
Summary: Yami goes back to Egypt with Bakura and Marik. Yugi loses touch with everyone. He goes to Egypt with Ryou and Malik and they somehow end up in Ancient Egypt and back with their yamis. RATING ROSE: LEMON ADDED IN CH.9!
1. Gone

Hey everybody I'm back! Here's the fic that won the votes so I hope you all enjoy. Can't think of anything else to say though so enjoy the fic and remember that I love reviews!  
  
Here's a big thank you to my beta reader too! Thank You!  
  
And lastly, I don't own Yugioh, but if I did than Tea wouldn't exist (sorry Tea-lovers).  
  
~~  
  
"I wish you didn't have to go, Yami." Yugi cried into his lover's chest.  
  
"I know, little one, but I must. I don't belong in this time." Yami sighed as he looked up into the sands of Egypt and to the sun that was slowly descending towards the horizon.  
  
Off to the side Malik and Ryou were also saying their goodbyes to their respective yamis.  
  
The Pharaoh felt bad for all three hikaris. They had to be left behind, separated from their soul mates; while he, Bakura, and Marik, had to go back to their own time in Egypt, picking up where they left off.  
  
"Do you have to go, Yami?" Yugi muttered into his shirt, pulling Yami from his thoughts to look back down at his own saddened hikari and embracing him tightly. "Isn't there some way you could stay?" He pleaded.  
  
Yami petted Yugi's hair back sadly, wiping the small beads of sweat that had formed on his light's forehead; the journey to the decaying palace had been short, but the Egyptian sun was blazing. "I must, Yugi. There is no other way. If we don't go we'll end up leaving this world."  
  
"But I don't want you to go!" Yugi cried loudly into his shirt. "I want you to stay here, with me," he finished quietly.  
  
"I know how you feel, Yugi. I wish to stay too, but I can't; none of us can."  
  
Yugi looked off to his side to glance at two of his best friends also embracing their yamis.  
  
"I'm going to miss you, Bakura. I wish you didn't have to leave." Ryou mumbled into Bakura's jacket.  
  
"I'll miss you too, hikari." Bakura pulled away from Ryou. He removed his Millennium Ring from around his neck and replaced it around Ryou's. "I want you to have this. It is of no use to me anymore. Whenever you miss me you'll have this to remember me by."  
  
"Okay, Bakura. I'll take good care of it for you." Ryou promised as he wrapped his arms around his lover once more and hid his face in the crook of his yami's neck.  
  
"I love you, Marik. I'm going to miss you so much."  
  
"I'm going to miss you too, Malik." Marik pulled his hikari into an embrace. He leaned over slightly and picked up the Millennium Rod from where it was leaning against the side of the crumbling walls. "I want you to have this, Malik, so you can remember me."  
  
"I could never forget you, Marik." Malik replied, taking the Rod and holding it closely against his chest as though it were his yami.  
  
Yugi glared at his two friends, jealous that they could have their yami's items and he couldn't because Yami was Pharaoh, and needed the puzzle in order to keep the portal to their world open long enough for them to get through safely. Not that he didn't want the three yamis to get through safely; especially his own yami, but he wished he too could keep the precious puzzle that had first brought Yami to him.  
  
The doors of the once great palace creaked open noisily and allowed entrance to those who stood in front of it. "It's time to go." Yami whispered regretfully. He looked back to Yugi who had squeezed him tightly in his arms. "I'm sorry I can't give you the puzzle, Yugi."  
  
Yugi pulled away from him sadly. "It's okay, Yami. I know you need it as Pharaoh."  
  
"Yami?" Ryou whispered to the Pharaoh, guilty for having ruined the moment. Yami looked at him and gestured for him to continue. "What's going to happen to Bakura and Marik? They've already sworn not to go back to their old ways, but. are they going to be punished?"  
  
Yami shook his head. "No, I'll make sure they get jobs in the palace. You won't have to worry about them getting into trouble when we return."  
  
Ryou nodded and looked back to Bakura, relief written all over his face. He was glad Bakura wasn't going to be thrown into a jail cell or beaten once he got back to his time in Ancient Egypt.  
  
Bakura and Marik also nodded their thanks to Yami before they returned their gazes to their hikaris once more; soaking in the sight of their soul mates before being separated, possibly forever.  
  
"Yami?" Yugi whispered, burying his face in the crook of his yami's neck. "Can't I come with you if you can't stay? I don't want to be away from you."  
  
"I'm sorry, little love, but you can't. What about your friends and your grandpa? They need you here, Yugi." Before Yugi could reply Bakura spoke up, "It's time to go, Yami."  
  
Yami nodded decisively and the yamis walked ahead of the three hikari's that looked as though the world was coming to an end. They reached the throne room and, once on the steps leading to the collapsing marble throne at the top, the puzzle began to glow. As it did a circular, golden-glowing portal slowly broke open and grew, allowing the three yamis to travel back to the Egypt of the past.  
  
Bakura turned back to Ryou and stared at him sadly before he stepped back and fell through the golden passage. Marik waved a sad and regretful goodbye and he before followed after Bakura through the glowing portal.  
  
Yami almost didn't turn around in fear of the tears he knew he would see on Yugi's face, but he did even as his own tears swelled in ruby red eyes.  
  
"Yami, I'll never love anybody again! Nobody could ever take your place in my heart! I love you, Yami!" Yugi yelled just before Yami stepped back and disappeared from their time forever.  
  
The portal closed seconds after Yami stepped through. The golden glow that had been lighting the darkened throne room vanished, leaving only the faint blush of illumination from the high windows that let the last of the sun shine through before it too dispersed into the night.  
  
Ryou dropped to his knees in sobs and Malik wrapped his arms around the smaller boy to comfort his best friend, his own silent tears trailing down his cheeks.  
  
Yugi continued to stare at the spot where the portal had been, where he last saw his own soul mate disappear from his life forever. He knew his life would never be the same again. Nobody would be able to heal him from the terrible pain he'd be feeling for the rest of his life. Not that he wanted to have it healed; he wanted that pain to stay so he would have something to remind him that Yami was real. He wanted to remember that what they had was forever.  
  
It seemed like hours before the three heartbroken friends turned and walked out of the palace, the doors closing noisily after them as they stepped into the humid night air. They trudged back to the small town just at the base of the deserted city where the rest of their friends waited for them, since all had agreed it would be better if they said goodbye to the three yamis before they left for the palace, so the hikaris could have time alone with them.  
  
"Are you guys going to be okay?" Mokuba asked as the three stepped through the door sadly.  
  
Malik looked down at the younger Kaiba brother and nodded, holding Ryou closer as his friend stiffened in his embrace.  
  
Yugi didn't acknowledge anybody in the hotel room and closed the door behind him and he made it to the room he had shared with Yami only the day before. He collapsed in emotional exhaustion on the bed and squeezed the pillow Yami had used during the night closely to him, letting his tears fall freely.  
  
Malik sat down on the couch holding Ryou closely. He knew it was going to be hard for all three of them to adjust to the loss of their yamis, but he somehow felt that Yugi was going to take the worst of it.  
  
Yugi and Yami had only been together a week before the yamis discovered their need to be back in Egypt before the full moon, or else the magic of their Millennium Items would wear out and no longer be able to support them in the future world. Ryou had been with Bakura for almost a year and he and Marik a little longer than that. He just didn't think it was fair to Yami and Yugi that they be torn apart so soon.  
  
"If you guys ever need anything or just want to talk about it, we'll be here for you. You know that, right?" Joey told Malik and Ryou.  
  
Ryou, nearly asleep against Malik, nodded tiredly and Malik nodded after him before glancing worriedly to the door that hid Yugi from view. He was sure Yugi needed somebody to hold him right now, but he was too stubborn to admit it. He didn't like it when anybody worried about him, even if he worried constantly about everybody else.  
  
Solomon stood from the chair he was sitting in and walked into the kitchen; he reappeared minutes later with a tray of sandwiches. "A big dinner wouldn't be right for tonight. How 'bout we eat and go to bed early since we have to leave well on time tomorrow. I have to get back to the shop and the rest of you have school the day after tomorrow."  
  
Everybody nodded and took a sandwich, eating slowly. Solomon went to the closed door down the hall and knocked lightly. "Yugi, you should eat something so you can get some rest tonight."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Yugi?" Solomon opened the door quietly and looked around the room before his eyes settled on his grandson on the bed, sleeping. He walked in and placed the tray on the nightstand, covered Yugi in a light blanket and, kissed his forehead lightly before leaving.  
  
~~  
  
The next morning was just as quiet as the night before. Everybody packed their things into the two jeeps taking them to the airport and climbed in silently. The drive there was just a solemn affair as was settling in the plane that was taking them back to Japan. "How're you feeling, Yugi?" Ryou asked his tri-colored friend shyly after they had taken off. Yugi nodded and continued to stare out the window. "If you ever want to talk, Yugi, you know you can always come to us. Don't you, Yugi?"  
  
"There's nothing to talk about, Ryou. I just want to be left alone." Yugi told him, almost harshly.  
  
Ryou was taken aback and looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
Malik shook his head and gave Yugi a pointed look. "Let's not bother him right now. He might be like this for a few days, but I would feel this way too if I had been with Marik for as short a time before we were separated"  
  
Ryou nodded and let himself be led by Malik to some empty seats a little further ahead in order to give Yugi some alone time.  
  
~~  
  
"Well, I better get going. I have to go to the museum and tell my sister that we made it back okay before I head home." Malik waved goodbye to everyone. "Need a ride, Ryou?"  
  
Ryou nodded and waved goodbye to all of his friends before following Malik out of the airport.  
  
"I'd better be going too. I promised Serenity I would call her when I got home if it wasn't too late." Joey told everybody. "Seto, could I get a ride? My dad dropped me off here last time but he's at work right now and I don't want to bother him."  
  
"Sure, come on Mokuba." Seto called for his little brother.  
  
Joey threw a concerned look at Yugi, who was staring out of the airport's windows with a glazed look over his eyes, as he walked hand-in-hand with Seto out of the airport; Mokuba walking on the other side of his brother.  
  
"I have to go too. I told my mom I would come home as soon as I could." Tristan turned to look at Yugi. "Later, Yugi. I hope you feel better soon." Yugi didn't acknowledge him. He only continued to stare longingly out the window. Tristan shook his head and started walking away after giving a quick nod goodbye to Yugi's grandpa.  
  
"Well, come on, Yugi. You have school tomorrow and I'm sure you'd like to get a little bit of sleep in. You look exhausted." Solomon told his grandson quietly, not wanting to disturb him but needing to at the same time.  
  
Yugi pushed himself away from the window and walked almost pensively out of the airport and stayed that way the whole car ride home. He didn't say anything once they reached the game shop either. Just trudged up the stairs to his room and collapsed on the bed like he did the night before. A few minutes later he let sleep overcome him. 


	2. Without You

Hey everybody! Sorry bout the long wait, I ran into a few troubles about the ending, but, thanks to my beta reader, we got it all fixed up. Enjoy! And remember, that I'm always open for ideas you wonderful readers might have.  
  
Also, so you don't think I've forgotten, I've been working on the sequel for 'Changing Makes a Difference' just like I promised. I'm waiting for my beta to finish with it and then I'll post it for you so be looking for it.maybe on Sunday I think, but no promises there.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it and neither do you (  
  
~~ - Scene change between the same time (One point in Yugi's time to another) ## - Scene change between times (Yugi's time to Yami's time)  
  
~~  
  
"Hey everybody! What's up?" Yugi asked cheerfully as he bounced up to his friends with a big smile on his face. Confusion spread like wildfire over the faces of his friends.  
  
"Uh.Yugi, are you feeling okay?" Joey asked him.  
  
"Sure, Joey, I've never felt better. Why do you ask?" Yugi chirped, still bouncing around like a superball.  
  
Yugi's friends looked around the classroom to make sure nobody else was listening so they wouldn't get asked about it later. Luckily, there was only a few people talking on the other side of the room so they turned back to Yugi.  
  
"Oh nothing," Joey replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "except that yesterday it was like you had died and now you're happy."  
  
"Why? What happened yesterday?" Yugi questioned, his smile fading into a confused pout.  
  
"Yugi, don't you remember? Bakura, Marik, and Yami."  
  
"Oh! Here's comes sensei, I don't want to get in trouble, I'll talk to you guys later at lunch." Yugi waved before taking his seat in the front.  
  
Joey looked over at Seto. "Why's he acting like this? It's like, to him, nothing happened yesterday that changed his life."  
  
Seto shrugged as he sat down in his seat.  
  
Malik and Ryou were also confused and thought about Yugi's strange behavior as they walked to their own seats near the back.  
  
"Malik, I thought you said he needed some time to get over it? When you said that I thought you mean weeks or months; not less than 24 hours." Ryou asked Malik puzzled as he watched Yugi carefully.  
  
~~  
  
Yugi sighed as he sat down at the base of a tree trunk at lunch, waiting for his friends to meet up with. He fought with himself to hold back his tears, but a few escaped his amethyst eyes. Quickly wiping them away with his jacket, he looked around to see if his friends had noticed. Finding they weren't around yet he relaxed against the tree and let his mind wander. 'This is for the best. Nobody will worry about me if I act happy just like I used to before.' Yugi shook his head to clear his head of sad thoughts. 'If I think about it then I'll only end up crying.'  
  
"Hey, Yugi!" Joey called as the blonde spotted his friend by their usual meeting place. Yugi waved to show he heard him, but didn't look up. "Sorry we took so long, Yug." Joey apologized as he plopped down on the grass, Seto settling himself behind him.  
  
"Joey couldn't decide what he wanted to eat and the rest of us were behind him in line." Malik explained as he and Ryou sat down next to Yugi and leaned back against the tree.  
  
"So how are you feeling today, Yugi?" Ryou asked, hoping Yugi would give a truthful answer this time.  
  
"I'm fine, Ryou. Why?" Yugi smiled and answered in a cheerily, the falsetto convincing no one.  
  
"Yugi, yesterday you looked like the world had come to an end. We just thought that you'd be, I don't know, a little upset or something today. At least not as cheerful as you've been."  
  
"What happened yesterday?" Yugi lied. The night before, he'd thought of how to evade his friends' questions. He would just fake innocence and naivety, before they could remind him too much he'd interrupt them somehow and leave.  
  
"What happened? Yugi, you've got to remember. All the yamis."  
  
"I forgot!" Yugi jumped up suddenly, startling everyone. "I needed help with my math homework. Sensei should be back in the classroom waiting for me by now. Later guys!" He called behind him.  
  
"Why can't he remember what happened and the rest of us do?" Ryou asked innocently.  
  
"He remembers, Ryou. He's just avoiding it.I think." Seto explained unsure himself of whether or not Yugi had suppressed the memory.  
  
~~  
  
Yugi decided it was best not to walk with his friends back to the game shop that day. He couldn't think of any excuses to use if they started to bring of yesterday's events again. He hated lying to them like this, but it was the only way they wouldn't worry about him.  
  
He snuck out of the school as fast as he could after the dismissal bell rang and ran out of the gates. He stopped when he rounded the corner and heaved a sigh of relief that he made it without being seen by one of his friends. 'I'll just tell them I promised grandpa I'd get home as fast as I could after school so I could help him with the shop.' He thought as he walked down the street.  
  
##  
  
Yami sat, completely bored, on his marble throne, tapping his fingers against the armrest. It was only logical that today would be boring since the day before something exciting had happened . or, rather than exciting, at least something that didn't happen very often.  
  
The Pharaoh had woken up in the desert, just outside of one of the towns he ruled over. He had found it strange since he hadn't remembered how he got there in the first place. When he looked around him though he found something even more interesting. Two of his most wanted criminals were lying beside him. Before he could do anything though the tomb robbers had noticed him and ran off at full speed into the desert.  
  
The uncomfortable man sighed and shifted in his seat. Nothing could possibly be duller than just sitting around listening to people talk about nothing that interested him.  
  
"You're majesty!" Somebody yelled loudly as they ran into his throne room. Yami looked at him and recognized him as one his lesser attendants that he rarely saw around the place. He nodded his consent for the man to speak and listened raptly to what the young servant said. "You're majesty," he bowed and continued excitedly, "We've finally caught them! Bakura and Marik, the tomb robbers we've been trying to catch, are just outside!"  
  
This news piqued Yami's interest. "Send them in."  
  
The servant bowed once more and ran back out of the room through the doors. He returned a minute later with four guards behind him, two holding each thief. As he watched them a sense of familiarity washed over him and he had to hold the sudden urge to have them released.  
  
Bakura struggled but stopped because the guards hold had increased to the point where if he continued thrashing, his arm would break. Instead he looked up at the young king and sneered. Showing all the respect that he had for royalty, he spit at Yami's feet before continuing to glare. Still, there was a nagging in the back of his mind somewhere as he stared at Yami but he couldn't quite place what it was.  
  
Marik let himself be pulled carelessly to where Yami sat, not caring about what happened to him. He looked up when the guards had stopped dragging him and watched the ruler of Egypt with extreme dislike written on his face. Why couldn't the stupid king just leave him and his partner alone, everyone had to make a living right? When he glanced over at Bakura to see how well he was taking this change of events he nearly laughed when he saw that the older man had spat at Yami. Suddenly though, a strange feeling passed through him, almost as though they were supposed to be working in this palace, not stealing things from under the Pharaohs nose.  
  
Yami looked the two criminals over, forgetting the sick feeling he had over having the two criminals punished, and smirked evilly. He waved his hand in the direction of the dungeons and waited until the guards disappeared through the doors with their captives before turning to the one advisor that annoyed him beyond belief. The man followed him endlessly throughout the day from when he left his room to when he went to bed; it irked him to no end.  
  
"Have they found anything stolen goods yet?" He questioned, once more bored but still curious about his newfound prisoners.  
  
"No, your highness, not yet I'm afraid. They haven't said anything since they were captured."  
  
Yami nodded and wondered what he could do to get everything they'd stolen back. "Give them ten lashes a night until they decide to tell where they've hidden everything."  
  
The advisor bowed and wrote down the order on his manuscript so he would remember to tell the guards later.  
  
Yami turned his gaze to the doors that four of his guards and the two thieves had gone through and couldn't help feeling indignity for having the tomb robbers punished and thrown into prison. Almost like he had just broken a promise to somebody he'd known for a long time. The Pharaoh shook his head to clear it of such thoughts, brushing it off as paranoia and sleep deprivation.  
  
~~  
  
Bakura and Marik were roughly thrown into separate cells before the guards locked their doors and left to receive the rest of their orders.  
  
"Well this sucks." Bakura growled as he sat down with his back resting against the cold stone wall in the back of his cell.  
  
"You're telling me. This place smells worse than anywhere I've ever been in my life; even when you made us take that shortcut through the sewers." Marik complained.  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes trying to think of something that would help them escape when the wooden door they had been dragged through earlier banged open and two of the guards came through smirking. One unlocked Bakura's cell and the other walked in a grabbed Bakura's arm, dragging him carelessly out and into another room. Marik watched curiously, wondering what was going to happen until he saw the whip dangling in the other guard's hand. He was about to warn his partner, but was too late; the guards disappeared into another room and the door closed loudly behind them.  
  
~~  
  
The guard chained Bakura's hand to the wall and forced the tomb raider against the wall so the thief's face was towards the wall and chained the other hand in the other cuff. Bakura struggled against the metal cuffs and only stopped when his shirt was ripped from his back, wondering and dreading what was going to happen. He didn't have to long to wait for his curiosity to be sated, because a sharp crack echoed throughout the room and a sharp line of pain pulsated painfully on his back. He couldn't help the scream that tore from his lips after the second lash of the whip.  
  
~~  
  
Marik flinched as the scream from the other room reached his ears and he unconsciously shivered. For every scream that reached his ears, each one sounding even worse than the last, he retreated another step further into his cell in hopes of escaping the pain-filled cries that were echoing in his ears.  
  
Minutes later the door creaked open and the guards appeared dragging a torn Bakura behind them and tossed him into his cell and locked the door.  
  
Bakura moaned in pain as he landed on his side and rolled so he was resting on his stomach. Struggling reached his ears and he looked up, wincing slightly as he did, a saw the guards both pulling Marik out of his cell as his partner fought to get away. Only after they disappeared once more behind the door did he rest his head against the dirt on the ground and closed his eyes, not caring about the dust he raised or the stale air he breathed in. He flinched with every cry coming from the door, knowing all too well what his partner was feeling.  
  
The guards appeared once more after they finished with Marik and tossed him mercilessly in his cell much like they did with him. He opened his eyes when he didn't hear the door of the dungeons close and found one of the guards staring at him, the other at Marik.  
  
"You'll receive ten lashes every night until you decide to tell us where you stashed everything you stole."  
  
Somehow Bakura found the strength to spit at their feet before turning away to face the back wall of his cell room.  
  
They growled at him but left without doing anything.  
  
"Bakura?" a tired voice called.  
  
The white-haired thief moaned to show he was listening but couldn't find enough strength to articulate his reply.  
  
"Should we tell? It would save us trouble not worth taking."  
  
"I'll never tell, Marik." Bakura groaned out as he shifted to get more comfortable on the hard ground. "We swore to each other we wouldn't, and I never break my word."  
  
"Me neither, Bakura."  
  
It was silence for a few minutes before Marik's tired voice reached his ears again.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Have you been having a weird feeling lately?" A pause, "Like there's something important we forgot?"  
  
Bakura tensed but regretted it as his back screamed forcing him to relax on the cold floor again. 'How did he know?' Bakura closed his eyes to sleep. "No." He lied before going to giving himself over to the peaceful emptiness of sleep. 


	3. Thoughts of You

Hey everybody, here's the third chapter and the few reasons I put it as PG- 13 (for the moment until I can think of something that puts it higher. I wasn't exactly going to have a lemon but if everybody wants one then I'll find somewhere to put it for you. And I promise it'll be much better than the last two you saw.)  
  
~A few days later~  
  
Honey colored eyes peeked around the corner of the game shop and watched his best friend as he took out the garbage. Joey then turned back to his friends behind him with a frown, "He sure doesn't look as happy as he is around other people."  
  
Malik felt like hitting the blonde upside his thick head. "Joey, would you be cheerful and perky if you were taking out the garbage?"  
  
Joey thought for a minute before a goofy grin spread over his features. "No, I suppose not." He replied in a joking voice.  
  
Seto shook his head, wrapped his arm around his puppy's waist and held him close. The hurt and jealous looks that crossed over Malik and Ryou's face at the action went unnoticed.  
  
Malik and Ryou were thinking along the same lines, pouting in the absence of their yami's. Both hikari's missed their other halves fiercely, and wanted nothing more for them to return, despite the odds against them. At the sight of Kaiba's affectionate gesture, both boys were jealous and extremely unhappy.  
  
"I'm going to go for a walk real fast, Grandpa!" They heard Yugi call from inside the game shop. Everyone's eyes shot to the door as their friend walked out, cheery face securely in place.  
  
"Oh, hi guys." Yugi smiled cheerfully. "I was just going to go for a walk. Do you want to come?"  
  
"Sure, Yu." Seto pressed his lips against Joey's to stop him from finishing his sentence.  
  
Ryou turned to Yugi with a small smile. "No thanks, Yugi. We have some things to do for school and we want to get a head start."  
  
Yugi's smile faltered slightly before it went up again. "What kind of thing for school? Maybe I can help later."  
  
Ryou froze, he was an abysmal liar.  
  
"It's that school project for English, Joey and Seto are working together and Ryou and I are working on it together. We'd like your help, but you chose to do it by yourself. You understand we can't have you help when it's our own grade, right?" Malik answered for Ryou.  
  
"Oh yeah, I finished that project a few days ago. Good luck then." Yugi waved as he walked down the sidewalk.  
  
Seto finally released Joey from his lip-lock, mockingly glaring at the blonde. "What did ya do that for, Seto? Don't you want to hang out wit' him?"  
  
"You're cute beyond belief, Joey, but sometimes I wonder about you. If Yugi thinks he's alone then he won't act like everything's okay. He'll act like he really feels, inside, about Yami leaving and then we might be able to help somehow."  
  
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that, I almost blew it." Joey laughed. Seto shook his head and started to follow Ryou and Malik as they trailed Yugi from a distance.  
  
They followed the bobbing, tri-colored hair of their friend for about ten minutes before Yugi stopped in the deep part of the park where nobody liked to go because it was filled with junk, and garbage was littered around the place.  
  
There they watched as Yugi lay down in the dirt and looked up at the darkening sky. He gave out a long sigh as slow tears started to sparkle in his eyes. Everybody stayed completely still in silence, not wanting to disturb or startle him, no one wanted to see him put on his happy act.  
  
"Yami, I miss you so much. It's hard to believe I'm actually forgetting what you look like when we look so much alike. Whenever I look in the mirror, all I see is a weak, heartbroken little boy." The amethyst-eyed boy whispered to himself, his voice close to cracking with emotion.  
  
Ryou and Malik looked at each other sadly and then back at their fellow hikari. They knew how it was to feel like that. They understood how Yugi could forget how Yami's face, even though they looked so much alike; the other boys were going through the same thing.  
  
"Why'd you have to go so soon? That wasn't enough time for either of us. I couldn't even keep the puzzle to remember you by. It isn't fair." Tears slipped from his eyes and made mud of the dirt he was lying on, he didn't bother to wipe them away.  
  
Ryou's hands came up and unconsciously gripped the Millennium Ring hiding underneath his sweater, while Malik's mind wandered back to his bedroom where he had tucked his Millennium Rod safely under his pillow. This particular agony was something they couldn't sympathize with, and it made them feel all the worse.  
  
~~  
  
It had been dark for a couple of hours by the time Yugi stood and wiped his face clean of tears with his jacket sleeve and dusted the dirt off of himself. Joey and the others quickly hid behind trees so that Yugi wouldn't notice them as he walked by.  
  
After they were sure he was gone they came out from behind the trees and looked at each other, none of them sure of what to say. Deciding that it would be better not to talk they walked out of the park and separated, heading for home.  
  
~A week later~  
  
Yugi was standing on the docks looking out at the oranges, reds and pinks of the sunset. He turned around when he heard footsteps behind him and pasted a fake smile on his face at the sight of Joey and Seto striding towards him.  
  
"Hey, Yugi. What are you doing out here?" Joey smiled at him.  
  
"Nothing really, just looking at the sunset. Can't get a good view from the game shop with all the buildings around blocking it." He gestured behind him. Spotting his fellow hikaris he waved and added, "Hey, Ryou, Malik"  
  
The Egyptian and white-haired teens waved back but didn't say anything in response.  
  
'They look like something bad is about to happen.' Yugi wondered curiously. Shrugging inwardly he turned around and leaned against the railing and looked out at the setting sun once more.  
  
"Yugi, we need to talk to you about something important." Joey rushed out uncomfortably.  
  
Yugi's fake smile was replaced by a frown and confusion spread over his face as he turned to look back at his friends. 'What's wrong with them? They're acting weird,' He thought apprehensively, not quite ready for what they had planned.  
  
"It's about what happened a couple weeks ago." Joey added quietly.  
  
Yugi's insides froze and his mind scrambled around for excuses but he couldn't find one. He had no choice but to stand and listen this time. "What about it?"  
  
Seto growled in throat and blurted out, not so smartly, "Do you even miss him, Yugi? How can you say you love him and then he leaves and you only spend one day mourning about it? Ryou and Malik are still upset about so why aren't you?"  
  
Red closed over Yugi's senses as he narrowed his eyes in anger. "How can you say that?" He demanded, the hard edge in his usually gentle voice making even Seto cringe. "I love him more than my own life! How dare you even accuse me of not missing him?!" No longer able to stand the sight of his friends anymore he stalked off, seething the whole way back to the game shop.  
  
Everybody was taken aback by their usually calm and quiet friend's rather loud outburst. The whole gang watched as Yugi walked away from them and disappeared around a street corner.  
  
~~  
  
'How could they say that to me? I didn't really think I was fooling them with that stupid act. I don't know why I did it anyway when I knew they were going to see right through it, I thought they knew me better than that, but apparently I was wrong about that too.' Yugi thought half-mad and half-heartbroken at having to relive his pain.  
  
He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling from his bed. His hand came up and rested on his chest where the Millennium Puzzle usually lay. 'Not anymore though. Not since Yami left.'  
  
Tears clouded his vision but he ignored them. He didn't care if his grandpa came up and saw him like this. He didn't care if his friends came over to talk about his outburst on the docks or even if they came to apologize for what they had said. 'What Seto said really, but the others were there. I'm sure they were thinking along the same lines. Just because I try to act like nothing's wrong they assume that I don't miss him or even love him.' Yugi felt like screaming as loud as he could, but he didn't see how it would help with his predicament so he settled with turning on to his stomach and punching his pillow until the seams burst and feathers started flying out of it.  
  
Throwing his torn pillow onto the floor he collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes, pulling the covers over him. Now that his friends knew that his happy and cheerful act was a fake he had to find a new face by the time he walked to school tomorrow.  
  
##  
  
Yami walked through the halls of his palace, bored out of his mind.  
  
'It's amazing how the ruler of all Egypt can be bored to death while simple commoners have the time of their lives in the dirty streets.' Yami mused as he watched little kids running around laughing outside his gates.  
  
Sighing, he pushed away from the wall he was leaning against and continued to wander aimlessly through the halls, trying to find something that would hold his attention.  
  
He watched curiously as he found his guards in the kitchens joking with each other over some drinks. He turned his gaze to his kitchen servants and frowned. 'Even the servants and guards are having a good time. Why can't I ever find that pleasure?'  
  
Continuing on he found himself in the throne room staring at the heavy door that would lead to the cells that held Egypt's best tomb robbers. He couldn't figure it out but somehow he felt as though he had betrayed them.  
  
'No!' He argued with the inner voice that had been nagging him. 'I did the right thing! They did something against my law so they need to be punished.'  
  
Still, in the back of his mind, he couldn't erase the sick feeling that he had just broken a big promise.  
  
He walked forward and pushed open the door slightly to see if they were having just a good a time as the rest of the people in the palace. Tired laughter reached his ears and he pressed the side of his face to the crack he made, some mumbled talking, and then more laughter.  
  
He felt like screaming, but he would only bring attention to himself and he didn't feel like having people question what he was doing even if he didn't have to answer them if he didn't feel like it. He closed the door and sauntered over to another door and pushed it open, revealing the garden.  
  
He breathed in deeply and sighed. 'Those damned thieves are as cheerful as ever, even if they get beaten. Is it because they have somebody to share a happy moment with and I don't so I'm like this?'  
  
Shaking his head at his foolishness he walked further in the patches of flowers and sat down on one of the benches. 'That's absurd. I'm Pharaoh, the morning and evening star, I don't need anybody.' His heart clenched tightly in his chest and he sighed sadly. "What a pathetic lie. I can't convince myself of that when I know that I'm bored and everybody else around this place is having fun and laughing. Even the prisoners have each other while I'm alone. I don't even find comfort with my pleasure slaves, but they do after they leave me."  
  
He turned his crimson eyes to the blue and dust-filled sky and took a deep breath. "Am I so hostile that nobody could have a good time with just me? Even when they're torn up and unable to move anything except their mouths when I'm done with them they can seem to smile when they're talking to somebody else?" He thought aloud, thinking once more of his pleasure slaves.  
  
He growled and closed his eyes to concentrate. "That's even more ridiculous than me needing somebody around me, who isn't afraid of me, and having fun with me. I'm comparing myself to pleasure slaves."  
  
Deciding to drop the argument with himself since he didn't seem to be getting anywhere, he stood and walked back inside. Walking to his bedroom he collapsed on his silk-sheeted bed and closed his eyes to block out the light.  
  
'For some reason I've been so confused lately and I can't seem to figure out why. It's like for one period of time that I can't seem to remember when it fit in I was happy and never seemed to find the time to frown. Now I'm back and bored out of my mind unable to remember how I had so much fun.'  
  
Rolling on his back he snorted at his idiocy. 'I think I would've remembered if I had that much fun and laughed that hard. I'm being stupid.' The young ruler was pulled from the thoughts that weren't getting him anywhere because of a knock on the door. "What?" He called out in a harsh tone.  
  
The door opened and he recognized the girl who worked with the pleasure slaves and cleaned them up. She bowed low and kept her eyes trained on the floor as she spoke in the usual quiet voice most of the female servants used around him. "Your majesty, I was just wondering if you wished for a slave tonight?"  
  
'I wouldn't be able to enjoy it anyway. Might as well not bring somebody down with me, even if they are a mere slave.' He thought bitterly. "No, I'm not in the mood tonight."  
  
"Very well, your majesty. Should I send the slaves to their rooms then? I had already lined them up for your inspection had you wanted to pick."  
  
"Yes, might as well." He waved her away. "You're dismissed."  
  
She bowed against. "Have a pleasant night, your majesty." She added before closing the door.  
  
Yami lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes as he rested his head on one of his many pillows scattered over the bed. 'A pleasant night. that's something I could hope for but get nothing for it. These thoughts will keep at me, even as I sleep. At least I don't have anything important to worry about tomorrow so I might be able to sleep in.'  
  
The Pharaoh shifted until he was more comfortable and pulled the covers over him then fell into a restless sleep. 


	4. Unusual Day

Yami stared at the ceiling, unable to think of anything to do for the day. He had no meetings that day and he couldn't think of a reason to go see anybody outside the palace, not that there were many people to go see.  
  
"Is it possible for one to die of complete and utter boredom?" He muttered grumpily as he rolled off the bed to look out the window. 'I pity every person down there who says that their Pharaoh has a much more exciting life than them.'  
  
The young Pharaoh started when he heard laughter from behind his door and, out of curiosity, he went to go see what was going on. Opening the door he found a few of his servants trying to stifle laughter from behind a pillar, a short whispered conversation, and then more giggling.  
  
Yami wasn't sure what made him want to see what they were so excited about, maybe it was his boredom that made him do it, but he started walking towards them. He cleared his throat to get their attention, earning gasps from the three girls. They fell to their knees on the marble floor and bowed their heads.  
  
"Your majesty, we're sorry if we disturbed you. We hadn't meant to bother you and we tried to be quiet. Please, forgive us for our misbehavior and for being so loud." The blonde girl in the middle pleaded.  
  
Yami sighed inwardly. 'It's times like these when I wish I were a servant.' "You're forgiven," He said icily.  
  
"Thank you, your majesty. It will not happen again." She assured him  
  
"What were you laughing about?" Yami questioned severely, jealous of the blonde and her friends for being able to enjoy themselves when he could not.  
  
"It's something that's happening in the dungeons, your majesty. Seira knows more about it though, she was telling me and Andrea about it." The blonde gestured behind her to the brunette on her left.  
  
Yami looked at the girl the blonde gestured to and guessed this was Seira. "What's happened in the dungeons?" He asked her.  
  
"The thieves that are in there right now are joking around and trying to impress the girls that go in there. I was assigned to give them their breakfast this morning so I saw them and a few of the other girls down there."  
  
"Very well, carry on." He turned and made his way down the hall towards the dungeon to see for himself what was going on.  
  
~~  
  
Upon pushing open the door to the dungeons, laughter and cheerful shouting assaulted his hearing. Looking around he saw quite of few of his female servants cluttered around the two cells that held Egypt's two greatest thieves, all of them laughing and most blushing.  
  
As he walked forward, the women who noticed him immediately dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. By the time he reached the cells all the girls were quiet and on their knees, heads on the dusty floor.  
  
"Just love ruining the fun, don't you, Pharaoh?" Bakura spat, masking his dislike of the Pharaoh with joviality.  
  
"There's no harm in talking to a few lovely girls, is there?" Marik smirked. "I've got to admit that you're doing pretty well for yourself if all these beautiful ladies are at your command."  
  
"That seems to be the idea when your title is Pharaoh of Egypt, isn't it?" Yami replied bitterly to their jabs, "Though I'm curious as to how they can be so happy and cheerful when in the presence of thieves."  
  
"Apparently you don't know how to charm them then. It's really quite simple when you know the right thing to say." Marik joked.  
  
"Apparently." Yami looked back at the girls, who were still kneeling. "You're dismissed. Get back to your chores."  
  
The girls quickly stood and cleared out of the dungeon before they could get into even more trouble.  
  
Yami turned back to the thieves. "I suggest you two learn your place before you get into even more trouble than you already are." He turned to leave, but stopped just short of the door. "Of course, you could make it easier on yourselves if you just told us where you hid everything that you stole."  
  
"We'll never tell a bastard like you!" Bakura shouted, suddenly shattering the cheerful repartee.  
  
"Our treasures are staying exactly where they are and you'll never be able to find them without us!" Marik added smugly.  
  
"Have it your way then." He opened the door and stepped out. 'Ten lashes a night and barely anything to eat while being trapped in a dungeon with no way of escape and they're still as cheerful as ever? Is there something I'm not getting about life in general where people are supposed to actually smile a few times in their lives? Did I miss the memo?'  
  
He glanced back at the door sadly. 'And still I can't get it out of my mind that I know they're better than I originally thought. Like they're much nicer than this and I know something is going on between the three of us that isn't making sense.'  
  
~~  
  
Yami opened the door to his advisor's room and waited for his presence to be noticed by the man that irked him to no end. 'I'm just glad this guy doesn't follow me when I don't have anything important to do. He drives me crazy as it is.'  
  
The balding advisor turned around and jumped at seeing the Pharaoh in his chamber so unpredictably. "Pharaoh! What brings you here so unexpectedly?" He babbled, falling over himself to bow in reverence.  
  
"I want no more women attending the thieves. Only the male servants may deliver their meals from now on. It seems that those lowlifes were only enjoying themselves with the girls and it's only obvious that this isn't what we're trying to achieve."  
  
"It is as Pharaoh commands. We'll have the schedules changed immediately."  
  
"See to it that this sort of mistake doesn't happen again. I'm to be told if it does."  
  
"Absolutely, your highness. My life is Pharaoh's." The advisor bowed his head humbly.  
  
Yami nodded and left the room, continuing his usual boredom now that he had nothing to do once more.  
  
'I wonder if previous Pharaohs had this sort of problem with nothing to do? Maybe I'll find something to do if I sneak out of the palace. Those people always seem to find something to laugh about and I might be able to join them if they don't know who I am.'  
  
He made for his room, heart firm in its resolve, to find something that would help disguise his identity.  
  
~~  
  
"Hey, Bakura, did you have this funny feeling that once before, his- holiness was actually a nice guy?" Marik asked as he collapsed on the dirt- covered floor.  
  
"Like we were all friends before something weird happened to us?" Bakura concluded as he leaned back against the cool stone wall, "Yeah, I felt something like that. Kind of creepy feeling something like this, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, I wonder what happened. It was probably something really weird like we all had soul mates that we loved like crazy and then we had to leave them and they couldn't come with us for some reason." Marik joked, snorting at his own idiocy.  
  
"What if we had to leave because we didn't belong where they stayed and had to go back to where we really belonged?" Bakura teased back, furthering the joke.  
  
The two thieves burst into laughter.  
  
"Yeah right!" Bakura gasped for air, "Who would want to come back to this?"  
  
"Like something that outlandish could ever happen!" Marik snickered, nodding his agreement, though Bakura couldn't see it.  
  
##  
  
Yugi scowled as he sat down in the seat that was furthest from the teacher and his so-called friends. He glared out the window even as Joey's loud voice entered the classroom accompanied by the quieter voices of his other 'friends.'  
  
The amethyst-eyed boy decided the night before that it would be better if he didn't speak to them or hang out with them anymore. He didn't want anybody to take the place of his Yami and try to make him forget his pined after love.  
  
'Nobody will take my memories of my Yami away. I won't ever let them. I'll die before I forget him.' He repeated in his thoughts over and over in his head, the words becoming a litany. Every time someone came close to him or tried to say hello, he refused to speak.  
  
'I won't get hurt if I don't let anybody get close to me. If I let them get close they'll try to make me forget Yami. I won't let them do that,' He thought angrily. By the time he'd entered the building, he had himself convinced that everybody was his enemy.  
  
A shadow dropped over his desk and he looked over to see who was going to try and talk to him this time. It was none other than the school's golden boy and CEO of Kaiba Corporation: Seto Kaiba.  
  
"Hey, Yugi." He said quietly.  
  
'He's acting different. He's never quiet. Maybe he's planning something. He's going to try and make me forget about Yami!" Yugi thought, paranoid. 'No! I won't let him do that!'  
  
"I wanted to apologize to you for yesterday, Yugi. It was wrong of me to say what I did and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Seto told him, shame continuing to mute his powerful voice.  
  
Yugi just looked back out the window. 'If I don't say anything than maybe he'll just leave me alone.'  
  
"Ryou and Malik told Joey and me how you must feel around us. Joey and me I mean, or more to the point, how we've been acting since the yamis left. They admitted that it has been hurting them to see us act so affectionate around each other, and they guessed that it must've been hurting you too. We've agreed to cool it around you three so maybe now it won't hurt as much; hopefully it should help." The CEO explained sheepishly.  
  
Yugi continued to stare out the window, praying that the CEO would just go away. 'I'll only end up hurting myself if I go with him. It's got to be some kind of joke. Nothing will change and they'll only look at me with pity in their eyes.'  
  
"So what do you think, Yugi? Would you like to come down and sit with us like you always do?" He offered.  
  
Yugi finally snapped. "You want to know what I think, Kaiba? I think I want you to leave me alone! I want everyone to leave alone! Why can't you get that through your thick skulls?!" He raved, glaring at Seto and everybody else around the room that stopped to watch the scene. "What are all of you staring at!? Why don't you take a picture?! It would last so much longer!"  
  
Everybody jumped and went back to what they were doing before the interruption, nervously though.  
  
"Yugi, I think you're getting carried away. What's wrong? Is there more than just what happened yesterday? Please, talk to us, Yugi." Joey asked worriedly and placating at once as he walked up to Yugi.  
  
"The other day, you assumed that I don't miss Yami, doubted my love for him, and you have the gall to ask me what's wrong?! Damn it Wheeler, you're even denser than I thought! Just leave me alone!" Yugi stood and stormed out of the classroom, leaving the school building behind before the tardy bell even rang.  
  
Joey's whole body shook in anger and sorrow because of what Yugi had said. He buried his face in Seto's chest and let his tears fall silently. "I-I thought he was m-my best f-friend."  
  
"Shh, don't worry, puppy." Seto rubbed the blonde's back soothingly, drawing more stares from the class. "I'm sure he's just confused or something. I doubt he's going to forgive me as easily as I had believed when I apologized to him. After all, I know I would hate anybody for a while if they said that about you to me."  
  
"Just give him time to cool off. He might not be back at school today, but since the teacher hasn't seen him yet than he'll just be marked absent. I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow, calm, and at least more willing to talk than he was today." Malik explained as he walked up with Ryou.  
  
"I got a question for you two. How come you two are always together now? You're always coming to school at the same time now and always walking around with each other. What's up with that?" Seto asked, looking at both boys sideways.  
  
"It's just, when Bakura was around, we were either together, or he was always waiting for me. Since he left, my house as been completely empty and I get lonely without him. Malik lives close by, and since Isis is always at the museum, Malik gets lonely too." Ryou explained. "I moved in with Malik, but I'll go back home when my dad comes back. Neither of them has a problem with it."  
  
"Actually, both of them thought it would be good for us to have the company. Ryou's dad thinks it's an excellent idea because he was worried about Ryou's being lonely, and Isis thinks it's good because then Ryou can help me with my homework." Malik smirked.  
  
"Sometimes talking about our yamis with each other helps a lot. Even if all we say is 'I miss Bakura.."  
  
"Or 'I miss Marik,'" Malik interrupted.  
  
"'.And I wish they could come back' helps more than you might think it does." Ryou finished.  
  
Seto shrugged and turned his attention back to the boy in his arms. "Maybe if Yugi had somebody to talk to he wouldn't have bottled it up inside until he was ready to burst. Then nobody would've gotten hurt."  
  
"You know Yugi though, he doesn't want anybody to worry about him so he keeps it to himself. It just gets to be too much for him sometimes." Ryou told him.  
  
Everybody nodded, forced to accept the sound reasoning. Their conversation ended as the teacher walked into the room and ordered everybody to sit down.  
  
Joey wiped his eyes clean and looked around at Seto, Malik, and Ryou. "Can we go find Yugi after school? Maybe we'll be able to talk to him away from other people." He suggested.  
  
"Maybe, Joey. It wouldn't hurt to try." Malik smiled sympathetically at him as he took a seat behind Ryou.  
  
~~  
  
Joey and the gang walked to the park where they saw Yugi cry the night before, and made their way over to the clearing. They had gone to the game shop, but Solomon had told them Yugi had just dropped off his stuff and then went out for a walk a few hours earlier.  
  
All of their hopes were dashed as they saw Yugi sitting up against the trees.  
  
"Yugi?" Ryou whispered.  
  
Startled, Yugi looked up at them but frowned when he saw who was there. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" He ground out through clenched teeth.  
  
"Yugi, why are you acting like this? We're sorry about what happened earlier, but you need to work with us if we're going to get anywhere. It's not going to work if you just yell and then leave." Malik tried to reason.  
  
"There's nothing to talk about. I want to be alone, you can't get it through your heads so you follow me around, so I yell and then leave so I can be alone; end of story." Yugi snapped, uninfluenced by the logic.  
  
"Yugi, you're so different now. You never acted like this before. We know you miss Yami and Ryou and Malik miss their yami's as well, but the truth is they're not going to come back, especially if you're acting like this. Those two," Joey pointed back at Malik and Ryou, "don't act like this, do they? Maybe you should try talking to one of them, they know what you're going through better than Seto or I."  
  
"It would help, Yugi." Ryou whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder Yugi would get angry again.  
  
"I don't need anyone's help. Besides," He stood up and wiped the leaves and dirt from his clothes, "ever hear the saying 'three's a crowd.' I wouldn't want to get in the way of your perfect lives." With that said Yugi pushed past them and walked away.  
  
"Yugi?" Seto called back to him.  
  
Yugi kept walking.  
  
"Come back! Don't act like this!" Malik hollered.  
  
He kept ignoring them.  
  
"Yug! We're best friends! Best friends don't do this to each other, they talk to each other about their problems!" Joey yelled after him.  
  
Yugi forced himself to keep moving away from them, fighting tears as he walked.  
  
"We would do anything to help you, Yugi! We would even bring Yami back if we could, but we can't! How can we help if you won't let us?" Ryou shouted, crying.  
  
Tears slipped from his eyes, reflecting the pain of his broken heart.  
  
"Yami.." 


	5. Going Back

~About Two Years Later~  
  
Yami looked up from his history book when a knock sounded on his door. He didn't feel like answering it, which meant from getting off his bed, so he ignored it and went back to his bed.  
  
It was summer vacation and he didn't need to go to summer school to catch up or get ahead for anything. He was only reading his history book because it had facts on Egypt and it was the only thing he had to remember Yami it seemed like. He hadn't spoken much since his argument with his friends two years before and he couldn't really find it in him to eat much or sleep. Without Yami he couldn't seem to do much of anything because he was the only reason it felt good to get up in the morning.  
  
Solomon inched open the door to his grandson's bedroom door and peeked in quietly in case Yugi was asleep. Sighing sadly as he noticed his grandson was awake. He was hoping Yugi would get better over time with Yami gone, but things only seemed to get worse. He refused to see his friend who rarely came over anything more and he could still hear Yugi crying at night when he believed nobody could hear him. Putting on a smile he walked into the bedroom and stopped a few feet in front of the bed, glancing at the book his grandson was reading.  
  
"Yugi, I just got off the phone with some researchers I used to work with. I have some good news I think you'll like to hear."  
  
The violet-eyed boy only looked up to acknowledge his grandfather had said anything, but otherwise remained silent.  
  
Deciding it was better than nothing, Solomon continued. "They've found a few things in Egypt," Yugi's eyes widened and he scooted closer to his grandpa, "and they'd like me to come down and see them for myself. I was wondering if you, Ryou, and Malik would like to come along. I know you haven't been there since.they left so I you'd like to come with me. How would you like that?"  
  
In answer Yugi dropped his book and jumped onto his grandfather, hugging him tightly.  
  
"Don't you want to say anything?"  
  
Much to his surprise Yugi opened his mouth and shouted excitedly, "Thank you, grandpa! I'd love to go!" His voice a little quieter than it used to be but still as cheerful as he remembered it once being before Yami had to leave.  
  
"I'm glad to hear that, Yugi. I need to get a few things at the store so we can leave as soon as possible. Would you mind calling Ryou and Malik and seeing if they'd like to come as well?"  
  
If it meant going to Egypt Yugi would do anything at the moment. He unlatched himself from his grandpa and ran down the stairs for the phone, dialing Ryou's number.  
  
~~  
  
The airport was as crowded as ever but the Solomon and the three teens made it to their plane with little problems. Malik, Ryou, and Yugi shared a row in the back and Solomon took a seat by himself in the middle, giving the three boys their time alone.  
  
"Yugi," Ryou whispered nervously after they took flight.  
  
Surprisingly, Yugi responded to him with a smile and waited for him to continue.  
  
"Are you still mad at us about what happened that day at the docks?"  
  
"No, Ryou. I'm sorry I exploded and told you guys to leave me alone. I just really missed Yami and wanted him to come back so badly. I was just upset that I couldn't do anything to make it happen. I should've talked about it like you and Malik did so I wouldn't have blown up like I did. I'm sorry for the way I acted."  
  
"Then a truce?" Malik suggested.  
  
"A truce." Yugi smiled.  
  
The flight continued with the three rejoined friends talking about anything that would keep their attention. They discussed what's happened with the each of them for the past couple years Yugi explained some of the interesting things he'd discovered in the books about Egypt that he'd read. All three fell asleep when night came around. Malik lent on Ryou's shoulder and Ryou's head rested on top of Malik's. Yugi also had a good night's sleep for once as his own head rested in Ryou's lap.  
  
~~  
  
The three boys were shaken awake by Yugi's grandpa shortly after the plane landed the next morning. They found their luggage and watched the sand dunes go by ass Solomon drove the jeep his friends had waiting for them at the airport to the hotel they were going to be staying at, the same one they stayed at the last time they were there.  
  
Once settled in their rooms and they changed into more comfortable clothes Solomon was headed off to meet up with his friends at their work site.  
  
"Be careful and I want you all to stay together. If you think that you're going to be out for a while and I'll be back before you leave a note so I'll know where you are so I can come screaming after you for being out so long." Solomon joked, earning a laugh from the three hikaris. "Right then, I'll be off. Have fun, you three, and remember to not cause much trouble." He turned and left the room.  
  
"So what do you three want to do?" Malik asked his two friends. "Want to see what mischief we can cause by ourselves or go wander around the museums and see if we find anything interesting?"  
  
"How about the museums. There might be something worth getting in the gift shops they always have there." Ryou suggested.  
  
Yugi nodded his agreement. "Yeah, something we can take back with us and show Joey and the others. They'll be upset if they found out we didn't bring them back any souvenirs."  
  
"Yugi, the rest of the gang don't even know we're friends again." Malik pointed out.  
  
"I know. This'll be a good way to tell them."  
  
So the three headed off to the museums. They looked at the mini-replicas of pyramids and what they believed the palace looked like when it was cleaned up and seen better days.  
  
Yugi snorted at what the Pharaoh's bedroom model looked like. "That's a joke."  
  
"What is, Yugi?" Ryou questioned as he looked at what Yugi was looking at.  
  
"This, what they think the bedroom looked like. Yami showed me once in his spirit room (Okay so I forgot what people have been calling it. If you know can you change it for me?) before he got his own body what it really looked like. The sheets weren't made of pure gold for one," he pointed out, raising an eyebrow at what they had for sheets, "they were made of the finest silks they could get. And they mixed up the closet and bathroom coming off of the room and the bathtub was built in, not up like some Jacuzzis are."  
  
"Wow, Yugi. Yami actually showed you what it looked liked once?" Ryou asked amazed.  
  
The violet-eyed teen nodded. "What he remembered of it, but he said it was really close to what the real thing was. Like a few colors were off and that was it, but those usually changed with each Pharaoh so it didn't matter anyway."  
  
"Well, these guys don't have a yami from Egypt who could show them stuff like yours could. Malik, did Marik ever show you anything like Yami did?"  
  
"Yeah, I think he did once. It wasn't anything like Yugi's but he did show me. He showed me his favorite spot to sit on to watch the sun go down. It was gorgeous. How about Bakura?"  
  
"He showed me his hardest tomb to rob."  
  
Yugi and Malik burst into fits of laughter, earning glares from the other visitors.  
  
"Don't laugh!" Ryou shouted out of embarrassment. "We had just gotten together and you knew how hard it was for him at first. He thought I would like it and it was pretty interesting to see."  
  
"That's true. Did he show you anything else?" Malik asked after getting himself under control. Yugi was trying to stifle his giggles behind his hands.  
  
"Let me think for a minute. He did show me all the best spots to sneak into the palace. That's how he was able to get some really good treasures whenever he was running low on gold."  
  
"Marik showed me something like that too!" Malik remembered excitedly. More glares were thrown their way from the other visitors.  
  
"I think," Yugi started looking around and noticing the disapproving looks that were being thrown at them, "that we should finish this conversation where we can be as loud as we want. How bout we check out the gift shop before we leave?"  
  
"Good idea, Yugi." Ryou agreed.  
  
Looking around the store they found some postcards with pyramids and inside pictures of the palace printed on them and they even found Duel Monster's cards.  
  
"Grandpa said nobody believed what him and Professor Hopkins said about them using Duel Monsters though. Why would they have these here?"  
  
"Because they're good for business, young man." A clerk explained from behind the three boys, causing Ryou and Yugi to jump. "What did you mean by the Egyptians using Duel Monsters?" He asked curiously.  
  
"Nothing. I was just mumbling to myself." Yugi lied quickly. He wasn't in the mood to be laughed at if he explained truthfully about what he said.  
  
Ryou glanced around the store for anything that might catch his eye and he started at something most peculiar. His hands unconsciously came up and grasped the Millennium Ring underneath his shirt, his breathing becoming shallow for a minute. "I don't believe it. Yugi, Malik, look over there. In the corner." He pointed as he rushed over to the corner he was staring at.  
  
The two hikaris turned to see what got their white-haired friend so excited and both of them started when they saw what Ryou had in his hands: the Millennium Puzzle.  
  
"Excuse me, sir. What is this?" Malik asked, pointing at what lay in Ryou's hands and the identical puzzles behind him.  
  
"Those are replicas of the golden pyramid that the Pharaoh wore as a symbol for his royalty. Each Pharaoh wore it around his neck as they ruled and it is said they rarely ever took it off it was so priceless." He explained.  
  
Yugi felt like bursting. After the clerk left he exploded. "Golden pyramid? Symbol for royalty? Where do they get this stuff? And how do they know about what the Millennium Puzzle looked liked? Yami said that it had been buried with him and his tomb was the most guarded of all. It's supposed to still lie with him to this day."  
  
"I don't know. Do you suppose the Egyptians carved it into their walls like they did for other important things that happened?" Ryou suggested.  
  
"Yeah, that has to be it. I wouldn't buy one of those fake ones though. After having the real one around my neck those ones just seem like simple plastic ones." Yugi explained.  
  
"I see what you mean." He pointed to replicas of the Millennium Ring and Rod that were also being sold. Malik rolled his eyes at the Rod.  
  
"I bet it doesn't even have the dagger in it. Even a plastic one. Only Marik ever knew that secret and he told that to me. I'd much rather have the real deal one that's sitting underneath my pillow in the hotel room."  
  
Ryou nodded, placing his hand over his sweater to show he also brought his and Bakura's item with him.  
  
"I envy you guys." Yugi sighed as they left the museum. "I didn't get to keep my item. That's another reason I held it in. I guess I was jealous because Yami needed the puzzle to get him, Bakura, and Marik back safely.  
  
"What do you want to do now? We still have time to make it to one of the tours of the palace. Last time we were here we only followed our yamis to the throne room and we didn't get to see much since it was just a hall." Ryou announced looking in one of the tour guidebooks he'd picked up at the hotel.  
  
"I want to see the pyramids first." Malik told them. "Marik told me they're very well done. He showed them to me as he remembered them. I would like to see how much they've changed."  
  
"That's a good idea." Yugi agreed. "Yami did the same for me."  
  
"Me too. The pyramids it is then. "I've heard some them you can actually walk through too, some of the less complex ones." He explained as they headed for one of the tour buses to take them to a cluster of pyramids.  
  
The ride was relatively quiet if not a bit too bumpy for their liking. They happily clamored off the bus when it arrived at their destination.  
  
"I hate bumpy rides like those. They make me feel sick." Ryou announced to his two friends as they walked to the first pyramid.  
  
"I know how you feel." Yugi agreed.  
  
I spent the rest of the afternoon relating the pyramids they saw to the ones their yamis showed them and decided that the only difference was that the pyramids looked older, but otherwise still the same. They rode the uncomfortable bus back to the small town they were staying and went up to their hotel room.  
  
"Grandpa?" Yugi called out into the silence. When no answer came he turned back to his friends. "I guess he isn't back yet."  
  
Malik glanced at the phone and saw the red light next to 'messages' beeping. "Somebody called while we were out. Maybe it's your grandpa, Yugi."  
  
Yugi picked up the phone and pressed the 'messages' button and listened quietly before hanging up. "It was him. He said he'd be back sometime around eight, Egyptian time."  
  
Ryou glanced at the clock and noted it was 6.45. "We have lots of time before he comes back." He took out his tour guidebook. "There's the final tour of the palace we can go to. I think you might like it Yugi. It goes through all the Pharaoh's chambers as well as the rest of the palace."  
  
"Let's go then." Malik agreed.  
  
"Can we get something to eat first?" Yugi blushed as his stomach protested at being empty.  
  
Ryou and Malik laughed, but agreed with Yugi's stomach.  
  
They had a quick dinner and Yugi left a note for his grandpa saying they went on a tour of the palace and already had dinner.  
  
"At least we don't have to ride another bus to get up there." Malik said with lots of relief.  
  
They reached the palace just as the other tourists were just about to go inside for the beginning of the tour.  
  
After they visited the Pharaoh's chambers however Yugi quickly got bored and hung back hoping Ryou and Malik would get the idea that he wanted to talk without the guide listening.  
  
"This is the worst tour ever." He grumbled to them as his two friends joined him. "Barely any of this is right. Yami's tour could never be topped and he didn't even remember everything when he gave it to me."  
  
"I agree and I didn't even see the tour he gave you. Bakura told me some of the stuff he knew about the palace that I thought was pretty interesting. They have yet to tell us any of that."  
  
"Same for Marik." Malik sighed. He turned to Yugi but gasped as he saw Yugi heading away from the group. The hikaris quickly followed their tri-haired colored friend. "What are you doing, Yugi?"  
  
"I'm going to do this by myself. You two can join me or go listen to more lies."  
  
Ryou and Malik debated over following their friend or following the guide and quickly opted for Yugi.  
  
They found themselves in the throne room once more, but didn't stop as Yugi kept walking for the wooden doors near the back. They glanced around the dungeons for a little while and in the room past that. Yugi grimaced as he told his friends what the separate room was once for.  
  
Heading back to the throne room they stopped as Yugi paused to look up at the dusty and broken down marble throne.  
  
"This place used to look so beautiful. That's what Yami told me. I still can't believe they're gone." He sniffed and wiped his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.  
  
"We know, Yugi. We miss them too." Ryou wrapped his arms around his smaller friend. "Here," he removed his ring from around his neck, "you can wear it whenever you want. I know it's not the puzzle but it might help a little at the least."  
  
Yugi gaped at his white-haired friend. "I can't, Ryou. It's from Bakura."  
  
"Don't worry about that, Yugi. I haven't taken it off since the day he left. I'm sure I can spare a few hours as long as I know where it is. Go on, you deserve something. Especially after seeing a fake one being sold off in a gift shop."  
  
The violet-eyed hikari gave a small laugh and nodded. "Okay, Ryou, but tell me when you want it back. I'll probably end up forgetting it's even around my neck it'll be so comfortable." He told him as Ryou placed the rope around his neck and helped to tuck it under his shirt.  
  
Before he left, Yugi turned back to look up at the throne with a sad smile. A tingling jolt raced through his body as he stared at it and for a moment he thought he saw Yami standing up there looking at him. He shivered and closed his eyes before opening them to check to see if it was real, giving a sigh when the illusion wasn't there anymore.  
  
"Yugi, are you coming or are you going to stay here all night?" Malik called from the doors.  
  
"I'm coming!" He called back and turned to follow his friends back to the hotel. 


	6. Way Back

Hey everybody, I just wanted to answer one of your reviews that I think needed to get explained. It was 'GreenFairy()'s review. Sorry if you got confused about the whole Yugi throwing a fit and he'd only been together with Yami for a week, but in the first chapter where you read that bit you'd see it was explained in Malik's thoughts while he's sitting on the couch with Ryou. In other words, he and the others only knew of Yugi and Yami being together for a week, but the rest of it will have a bit explained in this chapter as well. Really sorry you thought that and realize it must've been confusing, but it'll get explained.  
  
Also, I wanted to apologize by how slow this is going but the part that everyone's been asking about is going to happen in this chapter, at least one of the hikaris anyway. The other two will join in soon though.  
  
~~  
  
That night Yugi is up on the roof thinking about the day Yami left to his own time in Ancient Egypt.  
  
'It's kind of funny really. At this same moment he could be sitting exactly where I am and I wouldn't even know it.' He thought curiously. 'I wonder if he'll ever be able to come back.'  
  
"Malik! You're playing wrong!" Ryou's voice shouted from inside the hotel room.  
  
Yugi sighed and rolled his eyes. He tried to block out the shouts coming from the below him, but it wouldn't work.  
  
"No I'm not! You just don't like the way I play!" Malik's teasing voice followed.  
  
"You're supposed to move along the board, not go wherever you want!"  
  
The violet-eyed teen moaned in frustration and crawled back into the room through the window of his room. He walked through the main room, past his fellow hikaris who were playing Monopoly, and out the door after telling his grandpa he was going for a short walk.  
  
"Finally," he sighed gratefully, "those two are just too loud sometimes."  
  
He walked passed the museum and looked in the gift shop through the window. He felt tears spring to his eyes as the fake Millennium Puzzles were straight in his line of sight. His hands came up and caressed the Ring through his shirt. Wiping his tears away he forced himself to keep walking.  
  
Looking around the small town he smiled softly. 'It's actually quite comforting out here when there aren't a million people and their grandmother trying to sell you something and all the other tourists aren't bustling by and pushing you around.'  
  
Yugi walked to the edge of the small town and looked up at the palace in the distance. Looking back around the hotel at the corner he gave a sad smile. 'I'll just go for a short while; they'll understand.' With that thought he turned back around and started walking for the deteriorating Egyptian palace.  
  
Shoving open the door Yugi stumbled in through the entrance and caught himself before falling on the cold, dusty marble.  
  
'Yami would have a fit if he saw his home like this.' He thought with a small smile. He walked into the throne room and looked curiously up at the throne, thinking about what had happened earlier that day. 'Did I really see Yami up there?' Closing his eyes to help him remember how Yami looked he looked back up at the throne and gasped, his eyes widening unbelievingly. "Yami?" He whispered.  
  
Yugi shook his head and looked back at the throne and Yami was gone once more. His shoulders slumped and he felt like crying. 'My mind's playing tricks on me here. It's not fair.'  
  
The poor teen nearly had a heart attack when he could've sworn he saw ghost images of Bakura and Marik being forced through the doors leading to the dungeons by the guards. Not being able to help himself he ran to the doors where they disappeared through and heaved them open. "Bakura! Marik!" He called hopefully down the stairs.  
  
Closing the doors again he turned back around and his breath hitched. Yami was at the throne again looking down at a few people kneeling on the ground at the foot of the stairs, a bored look in his eyes.  
  
"Yami?" Yugi asked. He started to fun towards the images but just as quickly as he noticed them they disappeared. The violet-eyed teen collapsed to the ground where the people were kneeling and tears dripped to the dusty ground; his hands clutching his head in frustration. "It's not fair!" He cried out into the silence around him. "Just leave me alone!"  
  
After calming down some and his tears only clouding his vision he made to stand and get back to the hotel room. He didn't know how long he was gone but he was pretty sure it was long enough to have Ryou and Malik worrying about him, his grandpa probably asleep until they wake him. He made it to the door before the silence was broken by a strange voice.  
  
//You wish to see Yami again, young Yugi.// It wasn't a question, it was a statement.  
  
Yugi turned slowly back around and noticed a faint golden glow coming from the throne room. "Whose there?" He asked silently.  
  
//Nobody to fear, young Motou. Come closer.// The voice ordered.  
  
Even though he didn't know what was happening Yugi didn't seem to be scared of the voice for some reason. Instead he felt somewhat compelled to keep talking to it. 'It asked if I wanted to see Yami again. Can he really make that happen?' Yugi took a few steps closer before he swallowed and decided to ask another question. "How can you help me to see Yami?"  
  
//Your questions will be answered, little one.//  
  
Yugi felt sort of irritated the voice had avoided his question but stepped slowly into the throne room and looked around. The golden glow was coming from a strange light just shining in the air. He didn't see anybody so just decided to talk to the next weird thing in the room, the light. Before he could think of anything to say the voice started again and he thought it better not to interrupt it.  
  
//It's strange that you should be wearing the Millennium Ring when you hold the Millennium Puzzle.//  
  
"Ryou's letting me wear it since Yami had to use the puzzle to get him, Bakura, and Marik back to Egypt. They only needed the puzzle so all the other items are still here."  
  
//Ryou, Bakura's hikari I suppose.// Yugi nodded though he wasn't sure if whatever was talking could see it. //The item is what called to me though. I find it strange that it should still have power when not being worn by the correct bearer.//  
  
Yugi flushed and made to take a step back, not sure if that should be taken as an insult.  
  
//Then again// the voice started again //you must have very strong feelings to be with the Pharaoh of Egypt if you're still heartbroken over his leave.//  
  
"You know? About us being together?"  
  
//I know much more than you may think, little Yugi. Like you're secrets of being with Yami longer than you led your friends to believe. How long was it really?//  
  
'If he's supposed to know all my secrets like he says he does then why is he asking me that?' "I told my friends only a week because I wasn't sure how to tell them even though I already knew they wouldn't care about us being gay. It was really something around two years, I think."  
  
//Ah, two years and three months exactly.//  
  
'Now I feel like I'd been stalked by this - person? since I solved the puzzle.' "What of the Ring though? Why does it have power around my neck when it's not even my item?"  
  
//You want to see Yami again and the Ring wishes for you to be happy; that is why it still has magic working even with the wrong bearer.//  
  
"The Ring wants me to be happy? But why; this is the first time I've worn it; that doesn't make sense."  
  
//Maybe to you, young one, but it makes sense to someone who is as old as time itself.//  
  
'That's really old.' Yugi swallowed and took another step back. "Can you help me see Yami or not? I don't care if it's for very long, just to know he still loves me is enough; to know I haven't been replaced."  
  
//Of that I can assure you don't need to worry.// The gentle light suddenly flashed and Yugi needed to cover his eyes to keep from being blinded. When he looked back up he gasped and his back rested against the wall. The small light had changed into the portal that had taken the yamis back to Ancient Egypt. //Step through and you'll be able to see him, but I warn you now; you might not be happy with some things you'll see.//  
  
"How will I be able to make it? The puzzle was needed before and since only fake replicas are in this time that I doubt would work then how will I make it?" He asked worriedly.  
  
//Ah, but that time I wasn't helping. You'll be able to make it with my help.//  
  
Yugi took a step forward and fingered the Ring underneath his shirt. It had just occurred to him that the Ring wasn't in view so he wondered how the strange voice could've known of it. He jerked his hand back when he felt a strange warmth and a small smile lighted his eyes. The Millennium Puzzle was hanging around his neck, it wasn't a real one though, just a holographic one but it still warmed his heart to see it around his neck once more. "But how?"  
  
//The puzzle calls to you, young Yugi Motou. It is your destiny to be with the puzzle and your yami.//  
  
"What about Ryou and Malik? They haven't been able to see the things I have and they still have their items so how will they be called back to their yamis? It isn't fair that I get to go be with Yami and not them."  
  
//Always the caring one. If you turn back now though I'm afraid I won't be able to help. I'll have a feeling you'll have more on your mind when you go to the past to worry about your friend's well being though.//  
  
Yugi licked his dry lips and looked back to the door. 'I can turn around and pretend this never happened or I can go back to Yami. Which would be the right thing to do? What? What am I thinking; I can't leave. I'll worry grandpa and Ryou and Malik if I don't come back.' He turned to leave but he instantly noticed the Puzzle started to disappear as he went further from the portal. 'Then again,' he turned back around to look at the glowing ring, 'nobody but those three would notice.' He remembered the last two years and how many times Joey and the others had yelled at him to get over Yami, even his grandpa had a couple of time. 'Only and Ryou and Malik ever understood how I felt.' He took a step closer to the portal and then another. Before he knew it he was standing right in front of it and the Puzzle around his neck nearly looked solid.  
  
//Have you made your choice, young Motou?//  
  
Yugi bit his lip nervously and looked back towards the exit. 'I'll never get another chance.' He looked back to the golden circle in front of him and nodded. "I have. I want to go back. I want Yami." He said determinedly.  
  
//Then step through, little Yugi, and I give you my best wishes.//  
  
Taking a deep breath Yugi took another step forward and into the circle.  
  
After the portal disappeared behind the young teen a golden object floated in the air for a second before falling with a clink to the marble ground. The Millennium Ring lay forgotten on the ground of the empty throne room until it could be found the next morning.  
  
~~  
  
Going through the portal felt like he was stepping through a waterfall without getting wet. The next thing he knew it felt like he was in the middle of a tornado and he closed his eyes tightly to keep his eyes from watery up. Another second went by and a bright light was beating down on his back and uncomfortable roughness was rubbing against his cheek and down his front. Opening his eyes he found that he was laying on top of sand and it was the full moon giving off the bright light.  
  
Standing he brushed himself off and looked around. Gasping he saw the castle from his memories of what Yami showed him years ago of what the outside looked like and then the small town right in front of him.  
  
'It's like the exact replica of what Yami showed me. He said he didn't remember it very well but I'm sure he got a surprise when he saw it again.' He smiled excitedly as he looked up at the palace. 'To think that just inside our all of our yamis are there, maybe even thinking about us. I wonder what sort of jobs Yami gave Bakura and Malik inside there. Boy will they be surprised when they see me; Yami'll be so excited he'll take me in his arms and never let me go.' He closed his eyes and started to daydream of how it would happen.  
  
He reopened his eyes when he felt the air around him start to warm up. Looking behind him he saw the moon was setting and the sun coming up behind the palace was causing the warm air. 'Wow! What a view to get when inside the palace.' He thought excitedly.  
  
He started to walk to the village when he realized a strange thump beating on his chest and he knew the Ring never bounced like that when he walked. Looking down he gasped; the Puzzle around his neck was now solid just like it was before Yami left. 'It's back!' He thought happily, spinning around and clutching the priceless golden item to his chest. 'Maybe with the Millennium Puzzle around my neck I'll be able to get into the palace easier.' He thought happily. 'Yami did say that only specials in the palace wore items or sometimes people with important business so they could get through some of the guards without questioning. Maybe that's why it's back. but if the Puzzle's around my neck is real than what about the Puzzle Yami has?' He shrugged and decided to figure it out when he found Yami.  
  
##  
  
Yami looked up from his reading when something strange caught the corner of his eye; a strange flickering coming from his desk. He looked over and gasped when he saw it was his Millennium Puzzle that was flickering.  
  
"How can this be? What's happening with the Puzzle?" He asked him aloud. He walked over to pick it up but his hand went through it. "Guard!" He called.  
  
A blond guard stepped into the room and bowed to the crimson-eyed Pharaoh. "Yes, your majesty?"  
  
"Fetch me Seto; something strange is happening with the Millennium Puzzle and I want to make sure no curses or other magical endeavors are trying to be placed upon it." He explained without taking his eyes off the puzzle.  
  
The guard bowed once more and left the room. Minutes later the High Priest walked into the room and lowered his head to Yami.  
  
"You called for me, your Highness?" The brunette asked.  
  
"Yes, the Millennium Puzzle is undergoing something strange. I wanted to make sure that nothing magical is being placed upon it for any reasons."  
  
"Of course, Your Majesty." He bowed his head once more and walked over to the fading in and out puzzle.  
  
Yami had to hold himself back when the Puzzle nearly disappeared but calmed down when it came back into his view.  
  
Seto did his best to figure out what was wrong with the Puzzle but it didn't matter how hard he tried it wouldn't make sense. He turned back around with the puzzled expression on his face and bowed his head in shame to the Pharaoh. "I don't understand, your Highness. Nothing magical is being forced or placed upon the Millennium Puzzle in any way; it's just happening."  
  
Yami was about to start yelling to try harder when his words choked in his throat. The Millennium Puzzle had completely disappeared and it never came back into view. The first words that came to his mind was a new way of thieving. "It must've been stolen." He growled. "Get the guards down to the tomb robbers in the dungeons. I don't care what you do to them, but get out all the secrets they know of how to steal something like this. I want any information as soon as you get it." He ordered, his tone rising at having his most precious possession stolen right under his nose.  
  
Seto bowed and hurried out of the room to tell the guards Yami's orders.  
  
"Whoever stole my Millennium Puzzle will pay!" He shouted, picking up a vase from the table and throwing it at the wall, watching it crash to pieces on the floor. 


	7. Welcome to Ancient Egypt

Here's the seventh chapter. I only wanted to say one thing though before the chapter comes up and that's to the review that vegie sent me. You told me that if I didn't review soon you were going to kill my cat, well I just wanted to tell you that I don't have a cat, I've got four dogs instead though. =)  
  
~~  
  
Yugi stepped into the small town and looked around. It was only after a second of realizing it, but everybody who noticed him looked frightened somehow. He supposed it had something to do with the strange clothes he was wearing and his resemblance to the Pharaoh.  
  
He decided to ignore them and he walked on, looking at the different shops in case he didn't have a chance later before he went to the palace to see Yami. It didn't even occur to him that there might be men guarding the gates that he'd have to get by.  
  
It felt like a few hours later to Yugi before he decided to head for the palace gates to see Yami again when his arms were suddenly grabbed from somebody behind him.  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"You're under arrest for impersonating the Pharaoh!"  
  
Yugi's eyes widened as he started to struggle. "No! Wait, you don't understand! I'm Yami's lover, I just wanted to see him again!"  
  
Yugi was thrown harshly to the ground and before he could recover from the fall a harsh weight was placed on his back, realizing one of the guards was sitting on him or at least his foot was.  
  
"How dare you use the Pharaoh's given name without permission! You'll pay dearly for that, low-life! Our Pharaoh has never taken a lover so I'm sure he'll be amused to find a suitable punishment! Especially for the thievery of the sacred Millennium Puzzle!"  
  
"Wha.NO! I didn't steal anything and I'm telling the truth!" Yugi started to struggle in hopes he could get away before he could hurt. If only he could see Yami alone without these goons there not letting him talk then his lover would understand.  
  
The guard's foot lifted from Yugi's hand and was hauled to his feet roughly and dragged carelessly towards the palace. The guards didn't stop until they reached the dungeons and threw him into the last remaining cell that was empty.  
  
Yugi quickly jumped up and ran towards the locked cell door. "You're making a mistake!" He yelled. "It's a misunderstanding! Just let me talk to Yami!" A harsh slap crossed Yugi's face and the young teen quickly placed a hand over the rapidly forming bruise.  
  
"Just wait until our Pharaoh has time for you, street rat! Then you'll be sorry you ever thought up whatever plan might've popped into your impersonating little head!" The guard laughed and left the dungeon.  
  
Shortly after he left fits of laughter could be heard from the other two cells in the smelly and dank level of the palace. Yugi strained his neck to look over into one of them, but he couldn't see what the person looked like since they hid in the shadows. He quickly became agitated and annoyed at being laughed at and growled.  
  
"Stop laughing at me, you jerk! I was telling the truth whether you or they believe it or not! I'll prove it to everybody as soon as I can see Yami!" He yelled out to the two still laughing prisoners.  
  
"Hear this, Kura?" A very familiar voice called from one cell to the other. "We finally get some entertainment in this place!" The voice choked through his laughter.  
  
"I hear it, Marik!" A second strained voice called back before another burst of laughter took over any chance of talking again.  
  
Yugi gasped, unable to believe his ears. 'Marik and Bakura? What are they doing down here? Yami said they'd be safe and out of trouble working in the palace.' "Marik? Bakura? It's me, Yugi!" He called excitedly.  
  
The laughter stopped and confusion spread over the two thieves. They came out of the shadows to get a better look at the third prisoner and both gave him very weird looks, like he was a madman.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about, kid? We don't know who you are and we've never seen you before in our lives."  
  
Yugi felt his jaw drop. "Never seen me before? You two must be mistake; I'm one of your closest friends and I'm Yami's lover just like you, Bakura, are Ryou's lover and, Marik, you're Malik's!" He tried to explain desperately.  
  
Marik and Bakura both looked at each. "We've never seen you before, ever. I don't know how you can ever suggest that we did. I've never had a lover and I've certainly never heard of any Malik before." Marik told him as if he were crazy.  
  
"As I have never heard of this Ryou person you're talking about. You've clearly been out in the sun too long for your own good. So what's with the strange getup?"  
  
"Getup?" Yugi looked down at his clothes, forgetting momentarily that he had just been told that the two yamis and lovers of his two closest friends had forgotten everything about them. "I always wear these kinds of clothes. The jacket's from my school uniform and my pants were a gift from Yami on my birthday a few years ago."  
  
"Right? So what's a school?" Marik asked curiously, wondering how this Yugi seemed to be speaking a different language but still be speaking so he knew what he was saying at the same time.  
  
"A school is a place where kids and teenagers, like myself, go to learn things like history and mathematics." Yugi explained before his eyes bulged and he asked suddenly, "What do you mean you don't know what a school is? You came with all us hikaris a few times to see what it was like. What's wrong with you two? You're acting as if you've never even been to my time before."  
  
"Your time? Listen - Yugi? We've never seen you before and as far as we're concerned there's only one time and that's the present."  
  
Bakura nodded his head in agreement with his partner.  
  
"Fine if you two won't even act like you missed me and going to play on like this then I just won't talk to you anymore!" Yugi burst. He turned and hid himself in the small corner in the shadows so the two thieves wouldn't see his betraying tears.  
  
A few hours later the silence was finally broken by Bakura. "Yugi?" He asked, remembering the name that the little one had said before. "What's it like; if you were telling the truth like you act you are then what's your time like? These Ryou and Malik people, they were in love with two thieves like us?" He asked curiously.  
  
Yugi looked up from where he was hiding his face in his knees and crawled out of the shadows to face the white-haired tomb robber. He nodded. "I was telling the truth about the future; 5000 years in the future for an estimate."  
  
Marik whistled and also crawled over to the bars to better listen, curiosity striking him up. For some reason he didn't know he was feeling like he really did know Yugi, but he could never remember from where no matter how hard he tried.  
  
"You loved Ryou with you're whole being and him to you as well. You gave him your Millennium Item, the Ring, so he could always have a bit of you after you left to come back to this time. You used to be mean to him, but you soon overcame that and told him how you felt and he felt the same way. Everyone thought you were a very romantic couple, one of the best, and it was described as the yin-yang relationship since you both were complete opposites."  
  
"And what of this Malik?" Marik piped in eagerly, wanting to hear of his own type of relationship even if he still have a hard time believing that it was true to have gone 5000 years in the future and find love there.  
  
"Everybody said you two were a couple of sex-aholics and would try to make out anywhere you could; never caring if somebody was watching or not. Some of our friends said you two didn't love each other and it was only for sex since you two weren't big on emotions in front of people. The rest of our friends like Ryou and I knew the truth though since Malik told us a lot of things about you. That you do have an emotionally relationship just as much as a physical one."  
  
"What did everyone say about us? What kind of relationship?" He asked eagerly, wanting to hear more.  
  
"Some of our friends, like Joey and Seto and Mai, called you the definition of an evil relationships since they found it hard to believe you had an emotional one as well as physical. Ryou and I though and Yami as well believed you were the secret relationship of the group since you were so usually secretive about certain things that even Malik wouldn't tell Ryou or me about."  
  
"What about your relationship? You told us that you were telling us the truth also about you and the high and mighty one were together." Bakura asked, sarcastically adding Yami's title.  
  
"Oh," Yugi blushed. "We were called the angels of darkness and light. I was the most innocent of the group and Yami taught me everything when we got together years ago. We were also the most open with our relationship, though Yami didn't like kissing in public since he believed that it should be a special thing that could only be shared between the couple and nobody else should get the pleasure of watching since it really wasn't their business."  
  
"I still find that hard to believe, but I guess it does sort of makes sense to how it feels we've forgotten something important all of a sudden." Marik muttered quietly to himself.  
  
"Telling more lies, imposter!" A guard suddenly yelled from the top of the stairs. The three were so engaged in their conversation that neither had noticed when the door had opened or closed. By the sound of things the guard had basically heard the entire thing.  
  
"They're aren't lies!" Yugi yelled after getting over his moment of shock. "It's the truth; I never said you had to believe it! Besides, it doesn't concern you!"  
  
Bakura and Marik glanced at each other and smirked, both pair of eyes relaying the same message: if only we had met him sooner he would have been perfect for their team and have three great thieves instead of two.  
  
"Whatever you say pipsqueak." The guard yawned, bored. "I've just been seen to the Pharaoh's advisor and asked him what your punishment should be for impersonating our King and stealing the Millennium Puzzle."  
  
Bakura interrupted, suddenly having a need to protect the small teen. "He didn't steal it! We've told you before, that way of thievery is impossible unless he's got magic! He doesn't have magic since he doesn't have the mark of the sorcerer on his arm where all mages show their sign of magic!" Marik growled in agreement.  
  
Yugi was fairly surprised that the two thieves had tried to protect him, but he still doubted it would help much since they were also behind bars and the guard had the keys jingling around his waist from a piece of rope. He felt a little guilty though that he had stolen the Puzzle, just without knowing it. Besides, they never would've believed his explanation.  
  
The guard ignored the tomb robbers and smirked evilly at Yugi, who gulped under the scrutinizing stare. "The advisor told me that you are to have fifty lashes and a beating for impersonating our Pharaoh and another beating and five more lashes for stealing the Puzzle. I shouldn't have told him it was just a child or you would've gotten much worse." He growled.  
  
Yugi was shaking in his tennis shoes after the fifty lashes part and moved to the back of the cell when he told him about the first beating. Tears started streaming down his face slowly after the second beating was mentioned and now he couldn't control anything he did after the final punishment had been told.  
  
The guard unlocked his cell and Yugi scrambled into the furthest corner in hopes the guard would turn away. The bulking man marched over to where the young teen shook and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him to the door.  
  
The amethyst-eyed teen barely registered the shouting coming from two different directions of the dungeon.  
  
"That's isn't fair! He didn't do anything to disserve this!"  
  
"How can you do something so cruel to somebody's who's innocent, you bastard!"  
  
The voices drowned out when the door at the end of the dungeon slammed shut. His wrists and ankles were cuffed to a large wooden board standing against the stone wall.  
  
Bakura and Marik stared disbelievingly at the door.  
  
"I don't believe this!" Bakura suddenly yelled. "They never let him have the chance to explain!" He clutched his white locks and pulled them in frustration as his partner continued to stare silently at the door.  
  
It wasn't long later until screams were heard from inside the same room they continued to go to every night.  
  
"We never told him how to help; we should've." Marik suddenly whispered, strangely afraid to speak any louder.  
  
"How to what, Marik?" Bakura questioned curiously.  
  
"Drown out what was happening. To think of something that would usually make him happy so his attention wouldn't be what was happening."  
  
Bakura's mouth formed a small 'o' and he too fell silent.  
  
After the screams finally stopped after what seemed like forever they waited in anticipation for the large wooden door to creak open to see the damage brought on their dungeon companion; but it didn't open. Minutes after the screams ended something sounding strangely like a body being thrown against the door echoed painfully in their ears.  
  
"Oh," Bakura also whispered like Marik had, "he also has the beating we forgot about."  
  
Marik suddenly growled. "They better have somebody to come in and treat him when they're done. That damned Pharaoh wouldn't have one of his prisoners killed unless he ordered it himself.  
  
Nearly half an hour later the door finally opened and the smirking guard marched back in, giving a slight chuckle when he heard the door hit Yugi as it started to close on it's own.  
  
Bakura and Marik had to stifle their gasps until after the guard left before calling Yugi's name. It confused them somewhat as to why they cared so much about the young teen's condition since they only just met, but they didn't let it bother them as they continued to call for Yugi to something or show that he was at least awake.  
  
"I reckon he won't be waking up to reality any time soon." A soft voice called from the dungeon door. Marik and Bakura felt like cursing out their lungs that they had once again failed to notice when the door had been opened and fall closed again.  
  
The girl was young, maybe thirteen or fourteen, with long, dark hair flowing behind her and tied back in a bandanna. She had kind eyes and dirt smudged in various places across her face and arms, scrapes and bruises as well as dirt covering her legs. She was carrying a small bowl that water sloshed out of every so often as she continued to walk carefully down the stares; a washcloth hung from her shoulder.  
  
She unhooked the key from the side of the door which Yugi had just been dragged out of and unlocked Yugi's cell door with it. "The guards always seem to get carried away when they have to beat a prisoner. Poor boy," she quieted her voice as she neared the still body, "he doesn't look like he would ever hurt a soul." She turned back to the thieves watching her curiously. Nobody had a girl sent down there since they were caught flirting and messing around with the girls that had taken care of them before. "What were his eyes like?"  
  
Confused expressions turned to ones that said she was insane for asking such a question. "Why would it matter?" Bakura asked snobbishly.  
  
She just smiled and dipped the washcloth in the water and wringing it out before dabbing it lightly on each of Yugi's open wounds. "You can tell a lot by a person's eyes." She said suddenly.  
  
"They were a violet color." Marik decided to answer. "The were big like you would see on a four-year-old, though he's a teenager like us."  
  
The girl nodded without looked back. "I see, he must've been very kind then." She stood and walked out of the cell and stood in front of the stones in the wall. Marik and Bakura watched to see what she would do. She wedged her fingers into the cracks beside the stone and started to ease it out. A little ways before it would fall out on its own she reached behind and pulled out a worn blanket before shoving the stone back into place. She laid the blanket beside her before she started to carefully work off Yugi's shirt and eased him onto his stomach. She carefully put the blanket over him before leaving and locking the cell door once more, replacing the keys seconds later. "I'll be back tomorrow to check on him. Would you two be as so kind as to watch him as long as you can. Such a poor thing he seems to be; I don't think he did anything wrong at all."  
  
Bakura and Marik absently nodded their heads at the girl and watched her as she left the dungeons.  
  
"Strange girl." Marik whispered, turning his eyes back to Yugi. "I'm glad she's nice though and covered Yugi with something warm so he wouldn't freeze to death when night came around."  
  
~Days Later~  
  
Yugi had awoken at last to reality by a comforting dab to his forehead. He hissed slightly as the cold wetness touched one of his wounds that had yet to close.  
  
"So you're awake at last. Your friends have been worried about you; they'll be glad to know you've come back to reality." A soft voice whispered.  
  
Violet eyes opened and focused on the girl still dabbing lightly at his wounds. He shifted to sit up and he did so with the help of the girl. He looked past her when he heard his name called by two familiar voices and he gave a small smile to Bakura and Marik.  
  
The girl suddenly stood and picked up her things. "I'll have to go inform our Pharaoh that you've finally awoken. He's been wanting to see you for himself since the guards told him what you've done and ask you a few questions as well." She rummaged through the small bag at her hip that she had brought with her since the third day she came down to treat Yugi and pulled out a familiar dark blue jacket. "The guards wanted to get rid of it but I saved it before they could. I thought you might like it back; it only has a few wholes in it, but other than that it's in good enough condition."  
  
Yugi thanked her and wrapped the jacket around himself, shivering at dirt cleansing to it and scraping lightly at his back. It reminded his of dirty he must be and how he wished he could jump into a lake or something to scrub himself clean. He didn't even know how long he'd been wearing his school uniform pants, but knew it must've been a while with all the wrinkles and muck sticking to them. He grimaced in disgust and wished even further for a bath.  
  
"Someone will be down to fetch you soon so you can get cleaned up and look presentable to our King." The girl stated before leaving.  
  
As was told to him, another girl arrived minutes later with a clean bowl of water and a washcloth. She scrubbed him the best he could and was thankful that she didn't make him change into something different. He'd feel too weird if he had to wear their clothes. She led him out of the dungeons and handed him over to the guards waiting just outside. He was forced to kneel on the hard floor and keep his eyes lowered to the ground as Yami walked in and took a seat in his marble throne.  
  
"So you're the criminal who stole my Millennium Puzzle and made yourself to look like me." He accused in a hard voice Yugi had never heard him use on him before, causing him to flinch slightly at the tone. Yami must've mentioned for him to be left alone because seconds later the guards moved away from Yugi and out the door, leaving the two of them alone in the throne room.  
  
"I must say, you did an excellent job on imitating me. Nobody's ever gotten their hair to spike up like mine or get the colors right."  
  
Yugi looked up so suddenly he felt the room spin around. Once focused he glared at Yami for all the accusations. "That's not true!" He shouted at the Pharaoh, who was raising one elegant eyebrow at him. "I've always looked this way and I have never stolen anything in my life!"  
  
"What are you trying to say then, lowlife? That you just waltzed into Egypt and my Millennium Puzzle just appeared on your neck?" He growled back.  
  
"As stupid as it might seem, yes it did. I'm the holder of the Puzzle where I come from and you, you're just to ignorant to know the truth." He whispered the last part.  
  
"Ignorant? About what might I ask?" He calmed his voice as well, curious about what the little look-a-like was talking about.  
  
"Bakura and Marik told me that they just awoke in the sands outside the town one day not even knowing how they got there. They also told me you were there with them feeling the same way. I know how you ended up there because I came here the same way."  
  
"Go on." Yami ordered eagerly, his interest caught. "How do you think you have the right to call me by my given name without my permission? How do you think you're the holder of the Puzzle when I've had since I was born? Start at the beginning."  
  
"You were sealed inside the puzzle during this time and 5000 years later I became it's holder. I released you and you helped me through all sorts of troubles." Yugi began, tears starting to prickle in his eyes at having to relive what he tried to make himself forget so it wouldn't hurt him. "About two years later we fell in love with each other and kept it a secret from everybody even after we learned that our friends didn't care if we were gay since they were also gay.  
  
"Then two years ago you had to come back to this time in Egypt so you wouldn't disappear from this world because the Millennium Items couldn't sustain you any longer. I lived in agony for those two years you were gone and I'd give anything to see you and have you again. My grandfather had to come back to Egypt days ago and invited me and two other of my friends to come with us since we lost you, Bakura, and Marik to this place before; he thought we might enjoy ourselves.  
  
"I wandered off on my own the night after we arrived to be myself and came to the palace. There a voice told me I could see you again, but if I gave up that chance I wouldn't get another so I chose on coming." Yugi took a moment to breathe. "When I did though I was captured for crimes I didn't commit. Since I'm the true holder of the Puzzle it came back to me when I arrived in this time."  
  
Yami didn't say anything for a long while and Yugi started to get nervous, afraid Yami wouldn't believe him and would order him back to the dungeons. Finally though a strange look befell on his face and he looked Yugi up and down. It felt strange though, but when he took the real chance to look over the prisoner a sense of protection came over him and before he realized it, he was walking towards the youth slowly. He wrapped his arms around the little one's waist and hid his face in his neck.  
  
"I don't know what's come over me," he whispered. "It's like I know you, but I don't at the same time. I want to send you back to the dungeons, but I can't because somewhere inside me I've felt a sudden need to protect you."  
  
Yugi wasn't sure what was happening when Yami started walking towards him and he smiled slightly after Yami's whispered words. He wrapped his own arms around Yami lightly and rubbed his cheek against Yami's hair. "Maybe you'll be able to remember if we spend more time together; might not be as confused if you could remember me again. Please, just trust me Yami. I know what I'm talking about; don't push me away."  
  
"I won't. I'll try to understand, I'll try to remember everything you said. I've always wanted someone to love. Now that you've told me had been in love once I never want to let that feeling go." He took in a shaky breath and forced his tears back. "I recognize you, but you're a complete stranger to me." 


	8. Unexpected Arrivals

Yami and Yugi spent the rest of the day in Yami's chambers with orders not to be disturbed unless it was a life/death situation. They only got into one argument and that was over releasing Bakura and Marik from the dungeon and giving them the jobs he promised them.  
  
"I remember making no such promise." Yami huffed.  
  
Yugi rolled his amethyst eyes at the ceiling and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting cutely at the Pharaoh. "Of course you don't remember, you don't remember anything."  
  
The Pharaoh's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay so you saw through that. It's slowly getting fuzzy though. What about your two friends who were with those tomb robbers."  
  
"They're our friends and their names are Ryou and Malik. Ryou looks a lot like Bakura except his eyes are a lost softer and his hair isn't as spiked up. And Malik."  
  
##  
  
Ryou awakened to the sun glaring into his eyes. He squinted and closed the blinds to the window. After stretching and taking care of his humanly needs in the bathroom he stepped into the kitchen.  
  
"Where's Yugi?" He asked, looking around for some sign of their spiky- haired friend.  
  
"Probably still asleep; want to check?" Malik suggested.  
  
Ryou nodded and they tiptoed to where Yugi's partially opened door was. Slowly opening it further they gasped and looked around the room. "Where is he, Malik?" Ryou felt like screaming he felt so panicked. "There wasn't a note or anything?"  
  
"No, I woke up after his grandpa and he hadn't seen Yugi come out or heard anything out of him since he left yesterday."  
  
Ryou and Malik both grew even more concerned for the small friend. "We've got to find him. Where would he go, Malik?"  
  
"I don't know. Let's check that gift shop at the museum. If I were him and I didn't have my Millennium Rod I'd go down just to look at them."  
  
Ryou nodded and his hand rose to his chest, gasping after a second. He'd just realized that he wasn't wearing his Millennium Ring. "My Ring, Malik; Yugi still has my Ring." Ryou was now worried about what could be going on.  
  
Before leaving Malik went back to his room and returned with the Millennium Rod. "I don't know why, but I just have this weird feeling I should bring it with me. It's so strange."  
  
Both teens ran down the street to the museum and into the gift shop. Not seeing Yugi their concern started to grow.  
  
Ryou was then knocked by inspiration as he stared at the fake Puzzles. "Yami."  
  
"Yami? What's he got to do with it?"  
  
"He started to miss Yami again yesterday while we were in the palace; remember, Malik? I gave him my Ring that it might help him out a little bit. He might just be looking around the palace again to feel close to Yami."  
  
"You might be right, Ryou. Let's go check."  
  
The two boys ran all the way up the sand dunes and into the palace. Upon entering the throne room Ryou gasped as a glimpse of gold glittered in the sun from the windows.  
  
"My Ring!" The white-haired teen ran over and picked it up off the ground. "Yugi! Where are you?" He called out as loud as he could after placing the Item around his neck.  
  
"Yugi!" Malik hollered through the silence.  
  
##  
  
"We stayed above the game shop in my room." Yugi just finished explaining about where they lived.  
  
"Interesting," Yami thought to himself. "In the same bed?" He asked suddenly.  
  
Yugi blushed at the blatant question and nodded. "Yes, in the same bed."  
  
Yami nodded and started to think of another question. "What was your room like?"  
  
"What did it look like? Well, it had blue walls and there was a window by where our bed was in the far corner. It had a side table next to it where I'd put the Puzzle when I went to bed. There was also a desk where I kept my computer."  
  
"What's a computer?"  
  
"It's powered by electricity. You can do work on it like writing and making pictures and talking to other people."  
  
"Sort of like your tele-frown?" He asked, confused.  
  
"What the heck is a - Oh, you mean a telephone. Yes, it's like that when you're talking to other people. You go on the Internet for that. It's where you can access different facts and read things; it's like for research."  
  
"I could learn to love your time, Yugi. It seems like you have many conveniences you can get in this time."  
  
"It has it's uses." Yugi shrugged. He looked around the room and smiled to himself. "I could learn to like your time too, Yami. It's not anything like back in the Egypt in my time. Everything's old and they don't seem to know any of the truth about some of the things you did back here. They told tourists that the Millennium Puzzle was a symbol for power and being Pharaoh."  
  
Yami's eyes widened. "They couldn't be further from the truth!" He huffed angrily.  
  
"Tell me about it. They also said."  
  
A knock rapped on the door causing Yami's eyes to narrow.  
  
"Is this a life/death situation? If not I'm going to be severely pissed!"  
  
"F-forgive me, my L-lord," the servant stumbled, "We've captured t-two prisoners and the g-guards wanted t-to let you k-know."  
  
Yami growled and stood up from the bed, throwing open the doors. "That is not a life or death situation! I'm trying to get some memories restored that I seem to have forgotten and you aren't helping in the slightest."  
  
"My Pharaoh." A guard spoke up.  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
The guard didn't even flinch at the tone or loudness Yami used, obviously used to having him lose his temper before. "These are the prisoners." He gestured behind him.  
  
Yugi peeked his head out from the door to look and his eyes widened considerably.  
  
"They've stolen the Millennium."  
  
"Ryou! Malik!" Yugi shouted and shoved past the guards to hug them both.  
  
"Yugi!" The two friends shouted back.  
  
"We were so worried when we couldn't find you, Yugi." Ryou scolded.  
  
"I'm sorry. I wouldn't have gotten another chance to come if I had left. I'm so glad you're here. I've got to tell you something though; it's really important."  
  
Yugi was pulled away from his friends roughly and thrown to the floor. "You have no right to talk to these criminals, even if you are one yourself." The guard snarled.  
  
Yami growled and glared at his guard. "You have no right to talk to him that way. Apologize and leave at once!" He ordered.  
  
The guard was surprised but bowed to Yami and said a quick 'I apologize' before leaving in a hurry.  
  
Yugi smiled and stood back up. "Thanks, Yami. Anyways, Ryou, Malik, we've got a small problem. Yami, Bakura, and Marik don't remember anything about our time and they've completely forgotten us. Yami's starting to remember though. Bakura and Marik are in the dungeons though and." Yugi cut off his sentence and looked to Yami.  
  
"They're to be released as soon as we get down there. I apologize for breaking my promise."  
  
Ryou and Malik nodded and rubbed their wrists after their bonds were cut.  
  
They headed down the steps to the dungeon and pushed open the door. Yugi ran ahead calling happily to the two thieves.  
  
"Bakura, Marik, you're going to be realeased. We've got a big surprise for you."  
  
"What sort of surprise?"  
  
Malik halted in his tracks at the voice and tears started to rim in his eyes. "Marik?" He whispered. He turned the corner and a smile broke on his face. "Marik! I don't believe it!" He ran over and hugged the thief around the neck.  
  
Ryou watched them quietly, not noticing the person behind him until.  
  
"Ryou?"  
  
The white-haired teen jumped and spun on his heel to face the person. "Bakura? Do you."  
  
"Ryou, it's been so long." Bakura whispered.  
  
"Wait, Yugi said you forgot? How do you.?"  
  
Bakura raised a hand to his foreheard and rubbed his temples. "I don't know what happened, Ryou. When I saw you I just remembered everything."  
  
Ryou broke into a smile and hugged Bakura the best he could through the bars. A click was heard somewhere next to them and they looked over to see Yami had unlocked the door.  
  
Bakura walked out of the cell and hugged Ryou properly. The hikari looked over to where Malik and Marik were kissing now and realized the same thing must've happened to Marik. He was broken from his stare by a pair of warm lips nipping and suckling gently on his neck.  
  
Yugi's face fell as he heard what Marik had said to Malik about remembering him when he saw him. 'Why didn't that happen with Yami and me?' A glimpse of gold reflected in his eyes and he looked down to Malik's hip where the Millennium Rod glinted proudly in the sunlight. Looking over a Ryou he saw the cord that held the Ring handing around his neck. 'The Millennium Items? I didn't get to keep mine when Yami left, maybe that's why he can't remember me the way Marik and Bakura can.'  
  
He looked over at Yami who was watching the reunited couples with interest and didn't look the least bothered that they could remember just at the sight of their loved ones and he hadn't. As if feeling eyes on him, Yami looked over at Yugi and gave him a small smile and gestured him over.  
  
The amethyst-eyed hikari walked over to the Pharaoh and smiled sadly; Yami hadn't caught the look. "I'm getting a little hungry, Yami. I'm going to go to the kitchens and get a little something to eat."  
  
"Alright, little one. Would you like me to escort you?"  
  
Yugi quickly shook his head, wanting to be alone. "No thanks, I'll be fine on my own. I'm sure you'll want to talk to these guys when they're through with saying hello to each other."  
  
Yami nodded and watched as Yugi climbed the stairs to the doors and walked out. He turned back to look at the two couples and continued to examine them silently. 'I wonder if Yugi had noticed they remembered everything about each other at first notice and I hadn't?'  
  
Yugi sighed and rested lightly against the closed dungeon's doors. Silent tears made tracks down his pink-tinted cheeks and fell to the floor, making small splashes as they landed. "Yami," he whispered to himself, "now that I've seen you again I felt so happy. Now I can't help but feel worse when I've learned what's happened."  
  
He walked out of the throne room and up the stairs for the Pharaoh's chambers, ignoring the turn to the kitchens altogether; it was just an excuse to get out of the room. He flopped carelessly on the bed and hid his face in the soft pillows, letting his tears soak into them. 'I want to go home,' the thought flitted across his mind. 'I want to be able to forget everything like Yami had. I don't want to get hurt anymore.' He looked up and over to the low table by the window; atop it laid the Millennium Puzzle. "I hate you, you baka Puzzle; you've ruined everything even when you don't even try." 


	9. Remembering

Hey all! I have a very good reason for not updating and it's not an excuse about school. I haven't been getting many reviews so of course I'm going to slow down. It's a rule I've got for my writing: little reviews, more time to wait; more reviews, little time to wait. I was even opting whether or not I should put the little treat in at the end, but decided to not be that cruel.

YAY! Happy for me! The perfect thing in the world happened to me; I found a very extremely bestest person in the world that said she would write a lemon for me and I bow down to her in every way since it wouldn't have worked without her and then I would've had to put my own in and then you wonderful readers just wouldn't want to read my stuff anymore because you know how much I really suck at writing that sort of thing. Anyways:

THANK YOU LADY ETERNAL!!!

Now that I've got that out of the way on with the fic!

"Yugi's been gone a long time for just getting something to eat." Ryou noted as he looked around the room from where he was snuggled up against Bakura's side.

Yami looked up and also looked around the room. He'd just been thinking about his little look-a-like to try and remember a few things and had even succeeded somewhat before Ryou had spoken.

"You don't think he's gotten into any trouble with the guards or anyone, do you?" Malik asked.

"I'll go look for him." Yami stood from the comfortable, poofy chair he'd been sitting in and walked out of the room, letting the door close loudly behind him.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Yugi's avoiding us purposefully." Marik sighed, closing his eyes and resting his head on top of his lover's.

"What do you mean, yami?"

"Well, think about it for a minute. Yugi and Yami were head over heels in love with each other and we all suspected they'd been going out for much longer than they had really told us. Then we all had to leave and we haven't seen each other for two years. You finally get a chance to come back and imagine all the hope that had built up inside of Yugi only to have them all crushed by being thrown and beaten in a dungeon and then to find out the person you love and loved you back doesn't remember anything about you anymore." Marik explained easily.

"Yugi never said anything about being beaten!" Ryou jumped up uneasily. "When did that happen?"

"Some time ago; it only happened once so it's nothing to worry about I think."

"Yeah, he was well taken care of afterwards."

Yami walked around the palace and asked a people he passed if that had seen Yugi.

"Of course, you Majesty." A young girl bowed her head to Yami. "He's in the gardens; he looked rather upset to me."

Yami nodded and started walking quickly for the gardens. He couldn't explain it, but a tight, constricting pain at started aching in his chest at the mention that Yugi was unhappy.

Stepping into the scene of greenery and other bright and cheerful colors Yami looked around for a second before he spotted Yugi sitting at the edge of the pond near the back, lazily making designs in the water with his finger.

"Yugi?" Yami called quietly so he wouldn't startle him.

Amethyst eyes widened and looked up, surprised to see Yami there. A frown crossed over Yami's face as he saw that Yugi's face was tinged slightly with red and his eyes were a little puffy around the edges, obvious that he'd been crying about something.

"Is something wrong, Yugi? Someone told me you were in here and you looked upset, I was worried about you."

"Do you worry about people you don't know very often?" He retorted bitterly.

"Yugi? Is everything okay?" Yami asked, stunned that Yugi had such an attitude now.

"No, everything's fine; just don't worry about me. It's something stupid anyway."

"I want to know."

"Well maybe I don't want you to know."

"Would you like to talk to Ryou or Malik instead then? Tell them what's wrong?"

"Just leave me alone, I'll be fine." Yugi stood and brushed past Yami angrily. He turned into one of the halls of the palace and, without looking where he was going, walked straight into somebody else.

"Yugi, there you are."

The youngest hikari looked up and recognized Ryou's soft brown eyes. "Sorry, Ryou; wasn't looking."

"That's okay, I was looking for you anyway. Can we talk?"

Yugi reluctantly nodded.

Ryou led his fellow hikari and best friend to an empty room that overlooked the sands of Egypt, making it look like some unreal painting. He closed the doors and turned back to his tri-colored haired friend. "Marik and Bakura told us that you were beaten sometime ago, are you okay?"

Again, Yugi nodded.

"We thought you would be more happy after seeing Yami again after so long though, but you seem to be even more upset. Anyone can tell you've been crying too?"

Hastily Yugi used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his eyes and he turned away from the Ring's holder. "It's nothing to worry about, Ryou. Won't Bakura be worried if you don't get back soon?"

"He knows I'm going to be with you for a while; I want to talk to you too, Yugi, not just stay with him all the time. Please, tell me what's bothering you."

There was a small pause where Ryou thought that Yugi was going to push him away, but then an inaudible mumble came from him and he asked him to speak up.

Yugi turned around suddenly with tears streaming down his face silently. "I'm jealous, okay! It's not fair that the second Bakura and Marik saw you they knew who you were and Yami thinks of me as a complete stranger! I hate being the only one who didn't get to keep my Millennium Item so I could remember my yami like you and Malik got to!"

Ryou blinked a few times before his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Why didn't you tell anyone before instead of holding it in?"

"I don't know." His voice quieted and he wilted to the ground and held his head in his hands. "I know I've been a complete jerk about it though. First I yelled at Seto and I kept avoided talking about it. I guess I just wanted to believe that if it wasn't mentioned then it wouldn't be so bad; it only made my problems worse. I wouldn't blame you if you all started hating me."

Ryou walked over to his friend and sat down beside him, pulling him into his lap and giving him a loving hug. "We're not going to hate you because you made a mistake; everybody does those." He comforted. "We will expect you to try making it better though."

"I'll try my best then." Yugi sniffled and wrapped his arms around Ryou, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry for yelling at you too, Ryou. Thanks for being there for me though." He then pushed himself away and stood up. "I should go find Yami and apologize to him too; I wasn't really the nicest in the world when he found me a little while ago."

"Oh, Yugi!" Ryou called to him before he disappeared behind the door. "Just to let you know, Yami's been trying to remember everything for you."

A bright smile appeared on the young hikari's face and nodded thankfully before heading off for the gardens again to see if Yami was still there. He was and Yugi walked up silently behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his head on his back.

Yami started and looked behind him to see who was there. "Yugi?" He asked, surprised.

Yugi nodded and looked up at him, letting Yami turn around before leaning against him. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "We have a few things we need to talk about."

Sitting down and pulling Yugi into his lap, Yami knowing he would appreciate it, and smiled as Yugi snuggled into his warmth. He listen carefully as Yugi explained why he'd been distant, especially when Ryou and Malik arrived and apologized for the way he'd been acting.

"It's nothing to worry about." Yami reassured. "I'm sure I would've acted the same way had I been in your position."

"We should back to the others then." Yugi whispered, reluctantly pulling away from Yami.

Surprising both himself and Yugi, he wrapped his arms around the young hikari and pulled him back down. "I'm sure they'll understand us wanting some time alone to ourselves. Let's go back to my – our room and we'll talk a bit more; if you'd like that is?"

Yugi smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."

Yami stood, still holding Yugi in his arms. "Did I like carrying you around before?" He asked as he walked toward his room.

Yugi giggled and nodded. "Yup, you'd always carry me around the house and only when we were out in public did you ever put me down, but only because I made it a rule because I thought it was embarrassing. Why?"

"You're a comfortable weight; it just feels right." He explained.

Amethyst eyes brightened and he snuggled his face into Yami's neck. Yami smiled to himself and realized that he was starting to find feelings for the teen in arms, even if it happened to be all over again. There was only one word he could think of though that could describe what he was feeling as he walked through the halls carrying Yugi. 'Perfect.' Little did he know the same thought was running through the young one in his arms.

The guard at the door gave Yami a questioning look when he saw him carrying his look-a-like around, but otherwise didn't say anything and opened the door for him; Yami nodded his thanks as he walked by. The man was surprised and couldn't help muttering to the next person that came by, "I'm starting to like our Pharaoh's look-a-like more and more; he's certainly bringing a good change in his Majesty."

Yami sat down on the bed gently and unconsciously kissed the top of Yugi's head. Yugi looked up curiously though and asked why, not expecting something so intimate so soon.

"Did I? I don't remember." Yami told him.

"You just did it."

Yami shrugged. "I guess it felt like the right thing to do. Do you not want me to?"

Quickly shaking his head and sputtering out no's. "It's just that I didn't expect something so soon coming from you. I love being with you," he snuggled in closer to further his point, "it nearly killed me when you had to leave."

"I think I remember that."

Yugi looked up at him expectantly. "You do?"

Yami nodded unsurely. "Pretty sure, I think. You cried and, it's fuzzy, but I think you said something about wishing to keep the Puzzle although you couldn't because we needed it."

"Yes!" Yugi shouted excitedly, apologizing when Yami flinched and held up one hand to his ear. "That's right, that did happen."

"It's slowly coming back, I wish it would speed up though." He held Yugi closer to him and rocked back and forth affectionately.

"I never stopped loving you, Yami." Yugi whispered to him, closing his eyes and enjoying Yami's presence.

Yami had paused at that, but continued shortly after. "Yugi?"

Yugi made a noise to go on.

"I think I'm starting to fall in love with you too."

Yugi gasped and looked up at him. "You –" A pair of soft warm lips fell on his, effectively silencing what Yugi was going to ask.

It was just an innocent kiss for a few seconds before Yugi's addicting taste easily affected Yami and he ran his tongue over Yugi's bottom lip, asking for entrance, which was given eagerly. He mapped his way around the younger's mouth, exploring and letting the taste of Yugi wash through him and warming his insides. They only pulled away when the need for air became too much for them.

"Yami, I –" Once more Yugi was silence and he kissed back happily, loving the feel of Yami's lips against his once more.

He felt Yami shift underneath him and soon realized he was being lowered slowly to the bed, Yami putting his weight comfortably over his. Yugi wrapped his arms around Yami's neck and pulled him closer, wanting – needing – to feel more of Yami against him.

Yami started biting and licking down Yugi's pale skin and smirked lightly as he heard Yugi moan and whimper above him. He groaned in irritation when he reached Yugi's shirt and pulled away to take it off before returning to the sweet taste of Yugi's skin with the mix of sweat heightening his wanting of him. He suckled in one of the smaller's nipples and worried it with small bites and licks, moving to the other once the first had tightened and sensitized. Moving down he swirled around and dipped his tongue in Yugi's navel, causing a small giggle to come from Yugi.

Groaning once more, he pulled away and removed the rest of Yugi's clothing, savoring every inch he saw of the pale, bare skin before him.

Yugi's breath hitched as he felt Yami's velvety wet mouth slide around his hardness and he moaned in complete bliss. This was just as he remembered Yami to be before he left also, small teases and always so gentle. He groaned out Yami's name through clenched teeth and his hands tangled themselves in his spiky hair.

It didn't take much for Yugi to find his release and he called out Yami's name before he drooped limply on the many pillows and soft, smooth blankets below him to wallow in the high he was in.

"This has only just begun." Yami kissed him on his soft lips, finding it harder each time to pull away. "I'll fall for you all over again before long and make sure we never part again, love." Yami whispered into his ear before he reached under the bed and pulled out a bottle of oil.

Yugi shivered, reveling in the deep, confident tones of his Yami's sultry whisper. It had been too long without him: two years of despair and isolation after two years of almost dizzying bliss. He rolled willingly at Yami's gentle prodding, unable to resist and incapable of anything but complete trust in his lover's motives.

Evidence of the abuse Yugi had suffered in the dungeon stared up at Yami. Guilt twisted in the Pharaoh's gut like a hot knife at the sight of healing whip gashes and yellowing bruises. Though the cuts had been cleansed and stitched expertly, the scars would linger indefinitely. _He came to find his love… to find __me__… and all he's found is pain._ At first, he'd simply intended to prepare the tender young body beneath him, to claim Yugi as his own regardless of what might have come before. The scars upon Yugi's back inspired an entirely different plan.

Cool oil drizzled across his back, bringing a soft gasp of surprise from Yugi's lips. It smelled of lotus blossoms and night-blooming jasmine, and as Yami's palms gently began to smooth it across his still-sore back, Yugi nearly purred at the much-needed attention.

Slow, gentle pressure. Fingers explored as palms soothed; Yami relearned the planes of Yugi's body with an unselfish tenderness that surprised even him. And a beautiful body it was. For all that they looked alike, there were some very alluring differences: even the jealously-sheltered Pharaoh was left deeply tanned by Ra's Kiss, while Yugi was as pale as Bast's Watchful Eye. Training for combat with men as well as Dueling Monsters had hardened Yami's muscles and toned his physique; Yugi was hardly unfit, but his muscles were less defined, making him appear slighter than the imposing Pharaoh. And everything about the boy was softness: his skin, his hair, his voice; tantalizing to the young king. Slowly, hazy memories began to rise in Yami's mind as he massaged those supple limbs: nights spent tangled in their eager embrace, stolen moments when they twined around his chest and waist as though never to relinquish their hold, while he slowly embedded himself between the perfect globes which drew his fingers down…

Yugi was purring now; Yami's touch awakened every carnal need the young boy had ever felt, drawing out the ache of two years' separation like poison from a wound. Talented, familiar lips brushed over his back, grazing the curve of his spine even as more oil was drizzled over his buttocks; a hiss of pleasure preceded a low cry of need as Yami's teeth nibbled at the back of his neck, those long fingers slowly working the oil into muscles unused for what felt now like 5000 years rather than two… Holding nothing back, Yugi arched up into the intimate caresses and moaned his lover's name, suddenly desperate.

"What is it, little one?" Yami teased softly, slowly slipping one finger deep inside his hikari. A gasping cry left Yugi as he fisted the silk sheets, his breath coming fast and shallow. "What do you wish of me, my aibou?"

The endearment brought tears to Yugi's eyes, nearly choking his impassioned reply from his lips. _He remembers what he used to call me… he's starting to remember me! Oh, Mother Isis…_ "You," Yugi moaned, trying to roll in Yami's embrace. He wanted to hold Yami, to wrap his arms and legs around his beloved and never let go again. "Please, Yami: I need you."

"How do you need me, little light?" Leaning closer, Yami slowly licked the shell of Yugi's ear as he slipped a second finger inside. It was more than obvious that even if Yugi had done this before, it hadn't been anytime recently; the muscles were tight from lack of use, and were clutching at him even tighter in Yugi's desperate passion.

"Oh, Kami…" Yugi groaned softly, panting. Gathering what little focus he could manage, Yugi managed to roll into Yami's chest. He then wrapped his arms and legs around Yami's torso and dug his nails into the firm muscles of Yami's back. The ordinarily shy teen was beyond his ability to withstand teasing just now and he wasn't going to let Yami get away with it. Leaning up, he caught Yami's lips in a deep, open, artless kiss that left the young Pharaoh nearly breathless and hard as Hatshepsut's obelisks. The two fingers in his ass sank to the knuckles and Yugi nipped sharply at Yami's lower lip. "I need _you_, Yami, not your Osiris-cursed teasing."

Caught totally off-guard, Yami found himself smiling even as he gently removed his fingers from Yugi's opening and used them to spread those softly rounded cheeks just a bit. "Then these memories aren't just a sorcerer's trick on your part," he murmured hotly, kissing and nuzzling every inch of Yugi's jaw and throat. "You even know my favorite curses." Before Yugi could reply, Yami slid deep and fast into Yugi's body, a deep moan of satisfaction escaping him at the tight, warm fit.

It had definitely been far too long. Yugi's head dropped back as he moaned, long and loud, at the utter perfection of being filled. If it was uncomfortable, he barely noticed; gone were the days when Yami had to treat him like glass, gradually easing him into longer and more passionate trysts. His body had been primed for Yami's possession from the moment he'd returned to pharaonic Egypt, and waiting was out of the question. That Yami had stilled, apparently wanting to let him adjust, suddenly irritated Yugi. "You're not going to hurt me," he panted, turning glowing amethyst eyes on his darker half. "This hasn't hurt me in a long time. Please, Yami… please: the only thing that hurts is how much I _need you_…"

"As you wish, aibou." The idea that this young one's passion could possibly match his own was still inconceivable to Yami, but there was no denying the tight clutch of Yugi's muscles around him, nor the compelling feeling in Yami's mind that he had, in fact, helped Yugi past the stage where such liaisons might be uncomfortable. Flexing his hips experimentally, he felt a deep surge of pleasure as Yugi's body arched eagerly into the return thrust, a passionate moan rolling in his throat. It took very little indeed to convince Yami to accede to Yugi's pleas.

Much as Yami wanted to treasure the moment, Yugi wouldn't let him slow down. When he slid deep, Yugi arched to take him deeper. When he slid away, Yugi pulled him back with teeth and nails and heels digging harder into the firm, tanned flesh of the Pharaoh. He had his Yami back, if only for a fleeting moment… before the world righted itself and the ephemeral memories slipped out of Yami's grasp again… and it drove Yugi's ordinarily shy passion almost into a frenzy. Before long, Yami had rolled up into a sitting position and Yugi was rocking in his lap, grinding his hips against Yami's and attacking Yami's lips in a fury of deep, consuming kisses… riding Yami as though it was the last time he'd ever be able to…

Release rushed over Yami like the Nile's flood, catching him off-guard. Unable to hold himself in check, he clutched at his young lover and groaned his name, barely aware of Yugi doing the same as his pale doppelganger reached his own climax. Like a key in a lock, the feel of Yugi's slender frame shaking in orgasm and clutching his own erupting manhood echoed of a hundred nights, a thousand trysts… as suddenly as his climax had overcome him, so did the memories of just how well they were suited to one another. _No wonder he was so crushed when I didn't remember. How could I have ever forgotten this?_ Instinctively, he brushed light, soothing, apologetic kisses over Yugi's face and throat, his hands caressing that abused back in soft circles.

It was all Yugi could do not to cry. _I wonder if I'll ever run out of tears; it seems like I've cried more in the last two days than I have in the two years we've been apart._ Nestling deeper into Yami's embrace, Yugi closed his eyes and let himself drift; if only for the moment, he could pretend that nothing had changed, that the past two years were simply a bad dream, and he was content to do so.


	10. Doesn't He Love Me?

Hey everybody! Here's the next update, sorry it took so long. *hits head repeatedly*. Actually before I get on with the fic I just wanted to make a quick little favor that if you go to FictionPress.com and check out my original stuff. It's all the stuff I do in my Creative Writing class and I thought people would like to see it. There's only a few things up there right now, but I would really appreciate it if you did check it out and maybe review them for me. My penname is still magic_reeni so they shouldn't be that hard to find. Thanx lots!!!  
  
Oh! And one thing (I promise this time) some of the beginning of this was written as part of the newly added lemon in the last chapter, but there was just no way I could leave it out after all her hard work so I asked if I could put it as part of the next chapter. THANK YOU LADY ETERNAL  
  
~~  
  
Pharaoh Yami woke up early the next morning and stretched widely, cracking his back slightly as he did. He carefully removed the covers, making sure they stayed on Yugi, before standing, putting a loose robe on, and looking out the large window overlooking Egypt.  
  
'What a strange dream.' He thought to himself.  
  
"Yami?" Yugi mumbled sleepily as he sat up, rubbing his eyes cutely.  
  
Yami turned and stared into Yugi's eyes before realization dawned through him. "Yugi," he whispered before chuckling slightly.  
  
Yugi stared up at Yami curiously. "What's so funny?"  
  
The young pharaoh's eyes sparkled. ""You," Yami murmured, walking over to Yugi and kissing the pulse point below Yugi's ear. "You were holding out on me, aibou. Even when our lovemaking didn't hurt you anymore, you were never such a hellcat in bed."  
  
Slowly, Yugi lifted his head to meet Yami's laughing crimson orbs. Those crimson orbs that were dancing with tender mirth, just as they always had when Yugi surprised him. Was it possible? Did he really remember? "You. you remember?"  
  
"I can't believe I ever forgot," Yami replied tenderly. "My hikari. my precious, innocent aibou. I knew you had such passion in you; why did you never show it to me?"  
  
Yugi blushed as crimson as Yami's eyes, his gaze fixing on the angry red marks his teeth had left on Yami's collarbone. "I. guess I was too shy before. But I needed you so much, I just. couldn't help myself."  
  
Chuckling again, Yami brushed tender kisses over his face. "Don't worry, aibou. You can be as shy or ferocious as you want in our bed; I promise to love you just the same."  
  
A large smile broke out over Yugi's face before he jumped from the bed, not caring about his state of undress, and hugged Yami tightly around the middle. "This is great, Yami. Now things can go back to normal. We'll never have to be apart again. And Ryou and Malik can stay here with Bakura and Marik too. It'll be just like old times except 5000 years into the past."  
  
A frown covered Yami's face, but it went unnoticed by Yugi as the younger teen bustled over to where his clothes had been thrown and started pulling them on, tripping as he tried to pull on his pants.  
  
"Yugi, what about."  
  
A knock rounded on Yami's door and the pharaoh was interrupted. Yugi jumped over to the large door and pulled it open, smiling at his two best friends and their boyfriends when he saw them.  
  
"Ryou, Malik, good morning." He hugged them as well, not caring about how strange he might seem to them.  
  
Bakura and Marik glanced at Yami and saw how lost he looked. Bakura turned to Ryou and gave him a small smile and a kiss on the cheek. "Marik and I need to talk to Yami for a minute. You three head down to breakfast and we'll join you in a short while."  
  
"Okay, Bakura." Ryou nodded. "Come on, Yugi. You can tell what's got you so excited so early in the morning."  
  
Once the door closed the two tomb robbers turned to the pharaoh.  
  
"What's wrong with you? Surely you like seeing Yugi so happy, don't you?" Marik smirked.  
  
"I told him I remembered everything about our lives together and I am happy that I've remembered us, but now he's said that he's going to stay here with me."  
  
"What's so wrong with that?" Bakura questioned, looking at Yami as though he had grown a second head. "Ryou and Malik are going to stay so why shouldn't Yugi?"  
  
"Ryou and Malik said they were going to stay here for the rest of their lives?" Yami asked in amazement and disbelief.  
  
"Well, no.but I just assumed that."  
  
"So you assumed that they were going to stay with you when they haven't said anything of the sort; that's real smart of you, Bakura. I would've thought you'd know Ryou couldn't do that. He'd miss his father too much and you know how he doesn't like letting him down since he's the only one his father has left."  
  
"Malik has no reason to go back though." Marik started to argue, fear falling into his voice must to his dislike.  
  
"What about his sister? As much as they don't act like it they do love each other and care for each other very much. You should know that better than anybody, Marik."  
  
"Well what's holding you back from admitting he'll be happy here?" Bakura muttered darkly.  
  
"Nothing's holding me back from saying it, but it'll only be lies. Sure, he'll be ecstatic about staying here for maybe a week before he starts to miss his grandfather and then all his friends. He won't say anything though because he doesn't like to disappoint people."  
  
"So you're saying that know we've found our soul mates again and they have the chance to spend the rest of their lives with us, you want us to make them go back to their own time and away from us?" Marik yelled.  
  
"As much as I hate to admit it, yes, Marik I am saying that. They don't belong here. They'll miss their friends and their family, but they won't want to leave us. The decision to stay and miss their old lives or go and leave us forever will tear them apart."  
  
The three ceased from their conversation when Yugi, Ryou, and Malik stuck their heads in the door.  
  
"You three are taking too long. Is everything okay?" Malik asked, looking at Marik.  
  
"No, everything's fine. Let's go have some breakfast." Yami answered. The three yamis followed their hikaris out the door.  
  
Unknowing to any of them, as soon as the door shut the Millennium Puzzle sitting on the floor where it was put the night before started to glow a golden shade before it quickly faded back to normal.  
  
~~  
  
After breakfast the three couples separated to spend some quality time together, though if going by the lustful stares Marik had been giving Malik and the advances Bakura was throwing Ryou it didn't take much of a genius to figure out what they were going to be doing. Yami and Yugi though decided to walk through the gardens together, enjoying the peace and quiet it brought. Unfortunately, that's when Yami decided to bring up his worries instead of leaving it for a more appropriate time.  
  
"Yugi, about staying here."  
  
"Don't worry, Yami. You don't have to feel like I'm being obligated because I love and I won't have any regrets. I want to stay here with you for the rest of our lives." Yugi interrupted. "It's going to be like heaven, Yami." Yugi's eyes started to glow with happiness. "It could be just like old times with Ryou and Malik staying too."  
  
"You don't understand, Yugi. What about your grandfather and Joey and the rest of your friends; won't you miss them?"  
  
"What are you trying to say?" Yugi asked worriedly, backing away from his yami to sit on one of the benches.  
  
"Yugi, you have to go back. You don't belong in this time and you miss everybody in your old life if you stay here. I am glad to have seen you again and that I remembered who you were, but I want what's best for you and that's being with your friends and family back home."  
  
"Oh, I see then." Yugi whispered detachedly, his bangs hiding his eyes. "I suppose you'll want Ryou and Malik to go back with me then."  
  
"That would only be the fair thing to do."  
  
"Only the fair thing?" Yugi looked back up at Yami, hurt and betrayal clouding his eyes. "Does that mean you don't care if they go back and you're making it sound like my life depends on it?"  
  
"No, they need to go back too."  
  
"Fine, we'll leave as soon as they're done." Yugi stood and headed for the archway that led back inside the palace, stopping in front of it. Without out turning around he struggled out a pain-filled, "If you didn't want me to stay with you, Yami, you could've just told me that instead of telling me to go away." He then walked back into the palace.  
  
Yami stood there with widened eyes and anguish filling his crimson orbs. "I didn't mean to make it sound like that. What have I done? I never meant to hurt you, I only wanted what was best for you."  
  
~~  
  
Yugi trudged through the halls before coming to a stop in front of Bakura and Ryou's doors. Hoping that he wasn't going to be disturbing too much of their time together, he raised his hand and quietly knocked.  
  
A groan, muffled by the door, answered him and he took that for him to open the door. Without any squeaks Yugi pushed the door open and peeked his head inside, unknowing to him that his eyes showed all his pain and small tear tracks were slightly visible on his barely tanned skin.  
  
"Ryou, I don't mean to disturb you or anything. I just wanted to tell you that we've been asked to leave so we'll be going home as soon as you and Malik are finished." He forced out into a calm, even voice.  
  
Bakura sat up quickly with disbelief etched over his face. "Who asked you to leave?" He demanded.  
  
"We've only just come, Yugi. Don't you think we deserve at least the rest of the week?" Ryou begged with hope filling his words, almost making it seem like they could come true.  
  
Yugi shook his head. "No, Yami wants us to leave so we'll leave as soon as we can. H-he is the pharaoh after all so we just better do what he says." He faltered slightly.  
  
"Oh, Yugi." Ryou whispered, seeming to understand now. "He didn't bring that up while you spending time together, did he?"  
  
Tears filled Yugi's eyes now and he nodded slowly.  
  
Bakura growled at Yami, his hate for the pharaoh returning full force. 'Yami, you idiot! You only just received your memories of your life together and then you bring this up on him the same day! I know we decided they should go back, but this is ridiculous! We didn't mean this fast; at least not Marik and myself!'  
  
The yami was pulled from his thoughts when the bed shifted slightly and he looked over to where Yugi was sniffling slightly into Ryou's bare chest, his hikari holding his affectionately and rubbing his back to help calm him, lightly rocking them back and forth. Ryou looked up at him with a concerned expression.  
  
/Why would Yami do this to us, Bakura? You'd think he'd understand, especially after getting his memories back only just today?/ Ryou asked him through the mind link.  
  
//I rather not talk about this right now.// Bakura growled, images of Yami being tortured in every possible way were sent to Ryou, causing the hikari to shiver slightly and tighten his grip on the young teen in his arms. //I'll be right back.// The yami of the ring leaned over and picked up his discarded pants and put them on before hurrying out of the room.  
  
Ryou only looked after his lover for a minute before looking back down at Yugi. "Don't worry, Yugi," he whispered. "Bakura and Marik will be able to handle this if not anybody else."  
  
~~  
  
Bakura pursued around the halls of the palace before he finally got fed up and rounded on one of the servants. "Where's your blasted Pharaoh?" He growled at her.  
  
The young girl fell to the ground in quivers and lifted a shaky finger towards the gardens. "H-he's been i-in there since Y-Yugi left h-him th- there, s-s-sir B-Bakura sir." She stuttered fearfully.  
  
Bakura stormed away from her and into the direction he was pointed to. He almost felt like setting the whole of the garden up in flames to find the blasted darker half of the puzzle instead of zigzagging his way through all the plants and brightly colored flowers. Instead he only had to walk a short ways before spotting him sitting on the edge of the fountain, lazily drawing little nothings in the water with his finger.  
  
"Yami, you complete and utter bastard! What in the name of all mighty Ra were you thinking when you brought that up to Yugi!"  
  
The young pharaoh looked up at the angry yami, his eyes rimmed red slightly, before looking back down at the water and continuing his drawings. "I merely did what I thought would be the correct decision to make by bringing it up to him. Clearly it was the wrong thing to do if he chose to seek you for you to yell deafly loudly at me."  
  
"Quit with the nonsense talk crap and look at me when I'm trying to pent out my anger on you!" Bakura ordered, somewhat surprised when he didn't have to repeat himself once Yami did look at him and kept his mouth shut. "He didn't come to me he went to Ryou and I happened to be there to hear what he said." He growled, tuning down his anger. "We hadn't even agreed when they should leave and it is their decision whether they want to go or not. For all we know they might never be able to go back even if they wished to do so with all their beings."  
  
"Yami you Ra-damned, Anubis-fucking, revolting piece of shit!" A loud voice shouted, promise of death filling his every word. "What in the name of all Egyptian lands were you thinking?! Where you even thinking at all!?" Marik screamed at the pharaoh.  
  
Bakura looked slightly amused when he saw Marik stampede over to where they were standing and started shaking Yami mercilessly by his clothes. "So how did you find out, Marik?"  
  
Marik turned to him with red flames hindering in his glaring eyes. "Ryou came in and told us what the bastard Pharaoh had said to Yugi. Malik went to comfort this asshole's hikari with yours and I came to help you kill him."  
  
Bakura nodded, expecting Ryou to have Malik help him with Yugi. "Well I was doing rather well on my own but I never said that he didn't deserve even more toture. After all," he turned stone-cold brown eyes on Yami, who was watching them cautiously, "we never did discuss what to say to them. Pharaoh here thinks he's so high and mighty he can just kick them out. We've got news for you though, Yami," he spat the name dangerously, "all three hikaris are staying here and until all three us decide when to decide to bring up then give them a decision on what they would like to do. Is that understood, your highness."  
  
Yami looked absolutely, and somehow unbelievably, even more broken than when Bakura had first marched murderously up to him mere minutes ago. Obviously, what he had done to Yugi was starting to sink in.  
  
"Yugi," Yami's sadly detached voice choked out almost quietly. "Where is he?"  
  
"I don't think I'll even let you have the pleasure of seeing him, Pharaoh." He spat out Yami's title. "After what you've done to him I wouldn't even blame Malik, nor even Ryou for that matter, if they had their own way with you once this has all been explained to them." Marik growled threateningly.  
  
"You're hikari is going to be staying with us until it is his own wish to see you again. Though I wouldn't even put it past you over-loving and ever- forgiving hikari to not ever wanting to see you again. If only you'd seen him when he came into my Ryou." With that Bakura turned and walked out of the garden, Marik following shortly and just as intimidating.  
  
~~  
  
Marik and Bakura walked into the two halves of the ring's room much calmer than when the hikaris' had seen them last.  
  
Ryou looked at Bakura with the tug of a small smile on his lips. "Is everything okay now, yami?"  
  
"Yes, Ryou. You three won't leave until further notice." He smirked.  
  
"What was all that about though?" Malik questioned.  
  
Marik gave him a small smile and pulled his hikari into his arms. "We'll explain some other day." He promised.  
  
Yugi stirred from where he lay, apparently asleep against Ryou's shoulder while sitting in his lap and arms holding him like the white-haired hikari would disappear and never come back. His broken amethyst eyes looked up at Bakura hopefully. "Everything's going to be okay now, right? You won't make us leave and we'll always be able to be with you?"  
  
"Poor kid," Bakura couldn't keep him from saying, shaking his head sadly. "Don't worry about that. We gave Yami a piece of our mind for you and you don't have to see him until you want to."  
  
Yugi nodded and crawled away from Ryou only to rest his head in Bakura's lap once he sat down on the bed, holding his closest leg like a small child would to a teddy bear. "I thought he loved me, I thought he still did, especially after last night. He doesn't want me around anymore though." He cried, holding tighter to Bakura's leg.  
  
Malik crawled over to Yugi and him and Ryou rubbed and caressed his back comfortingly to help calm him.  
  
"Don't cry, Yugi; Yami still loves you no matter what happens between you. I'm sure he was only thinking for your best interests when he brought it up." Ryou explained lightly.  
  
Yugi nodded tiredly and hiccupped. "I hope so." He whispered before falling into a fitful sleep.  
  
Bakura brought one of his hands up and pet Yugi's hair like he would many times to Ryou's. 'Baka Pharaoh,' he thought angrily. 'You always made stupid decisions before but this has got to be number one on your list. How could you ever want your hikari to leave you so soon when he loves you this much?' 


	11. RyouBakura

Hey everybody! See I got done a lot faster and most of it is thanks to Lady Eternal, especially for the lemon she does for me (cuz I suck at it).

It was a few hours after Bakura and Marik had returned from bitching out the Pharaoh about what he'd done to Yugi. Yugi had been moved to Malik's lap and was nearly asleep.

Ryou turned to look at Bakura and sighed sadly to himself. He was still angry. Ryou would've been able to sense it across the room even without their bond as yami and hikari. A whisper to Malik and Yugi was transferred from the comforting embrace of two teens to only one, and Ryou stood. His warm chocolate eyes met Bakura's only once, and then Ryou gracefully left for their private bedchamber, his head bowed demurely. A ripple of shock went through Bakura and after a swift glance to a lasciviously smirking Marik he followed his hikari out.

Once in the room, Bakura was greeted with the most beautiful sight since he'd left Domino City. His little Ryou, his sweet, unassuming hikari had stripped out of the light linen robes he'd been provided by the Pharaoh, and was kneeling in the center of the room. His firm ass was resting on his heels, his insteps flat to the floor, his knees apart and his hands, palms up, resting lightly upon them, his head bowed and his eyes downcast. Heat spiraled through Bakura, hardening his cock in a flash. In the rush of overjoyed reunion, their lovemaking had been tender up until now; Bakura had wanted nothing more than to see his little hikari moan and arch beneath his touch, and thus foreswore their more… sophisticated pleasures. Seeing Ryou there on the marble floor, all softness and grace and submission, Bakura's every thought of the Pharaoh fled his mind. At once, his face hardened and his demeanor changed. With a predator's gait, he paced towards Ryou; his own eyes gleaming like the glint of Ra off the still wet soil left by the Nile's floodwater. "Well, well," he murmured, his voice low and silken. "What have we here?"

Ryou shivered unconsciously. Much as he'd loved Bakura's softer attentions since his arrival, he needed this as well, and the narrowness of his escape from being forced back home made that need even more acute. It was everything he could do not to speak, but he'd not been without Bakura so long that he had forgotten the rules of the game.

Warmed to the heart that two years' separation had not nurtured distaste for the game in his hikari, Bakura smiled lazily as he circled the white-haired youth. "Seems to me we have a hikari with a guilty conscience, that he kneels before his yami this way. Have you a guilty conscience, little one?"

"Yes, yami," Ryou replied. Pleasant tremors tripped down his spine as Ryou felt Bakura's gaze rake over him. It had been so long since they'd played like this… "Yes, I do."

"Do you?" Bakura's voice was like silk slipping over a knife blade. "And just what might an innocent little hikari like you have to feel guilty about, eh? What have you done that I would not wish? Unless…" He smiled, stopping just in the line of Ryou's downcast gaze. "Unless you were going to leave." Seeing Ryou's shiver, Bakura reached down and took hold of Ryou's snowy hair, pulling his head back and bringing his ass up off his heels. Ryou gasped involuntarily as Bakura's grip had him arched almost painfully, desire pulsing through him in an almost equally painful throb as his eyes flew open. "You were going to leave, without even telling me. Weren't you, hikari?"

"Yes, Bakura," Ryou gasped out, desperately restraining himself from flinging his arms around Bakura's neck and kissing him senseless. He'd initiated the game; it would be ridiculous to end it now by using his safe word and just succumbing to a few rounds of passionate lovemaking. Ryou needed the catharsis, the affirmation of Bakura's love. Seeing his beloved yami's face hovering over his, hard and full of dangerous passion only served to remind him of just how much he really did need it.

"Just like that?" Bakura reached down, catching Ryou's erection in a painfully firm grip. Ryou cried out softly, the vise-like clench of Bakura's hand on his cock causing it to throb again in a surge of need. By the narrowing of Bakura's eyes, he'd noticed. "Even though my little bitch is in heat, he would leave me when the Pharaoh commands? Now why would that be? If you leave, I can't give you what you want." One white eyebrow lifted gracefully. "Unless there's someone else that did in my absence?"

"No, Bakura," Ryou denied fervently. "There was no one."

"No one?" Bakura echoed mockingly. "Not even Marik's horny little bitch? From what I understand, you were sharing a house together after we left. Is that truly all you were sharing?"

"Yes, Bakura. I could never share Malik's bed." Tears pricked the corners of Ryou's eyes even as he reminded himself it was all part of the game. Bakura didn't really think that he and Malik had shared a bed for the last two years… did he? "I am yours. Only yours."

"Then perhaps, my sweet, horny little bitch, you need reminded of why that is so, lest you be tempted to leave me again… especially for no reason." The last words were laced with such mocking sarcasm that Ryou nearly cried from despair. Any cry that might have left him was swallowed as Bakura's lips slanted harshly across Ryou's, causing him to arch up into Bakura's grip. The tug on his scalp eased even as he yearned into Bakura's two-fisted grip, the hand on his cock gripping even more firmly.

Release was sudden. Ryou sprawled across the marble tiles with a gasp as Bakura strode to the cabinet, fetching a length of rope. Before Ryou could think that he was expected to rise, Bakura was back, wrenching the youth back up and pulling him to one of the massive columns. Bakura smiled at the way his little hikari offered no resistance as he was lashed to the column, his face almost ecstatic at the feel of the cool marble against his flesh. "You're going to learn, my hikari, that I like losing what is mine far less than I like sharing it." The words, whispered low in Ryou's ear and dripping with honeyed malice, were swiftly followed by a sharp chastening bite to Ryou's shoulder. And then the door opened, and Bakura was gone.

Minutes passed. Ryou waited in ecstatic agony, uncertain how long Bakura was gone. When the door opened again, Ryou prayed to all the gods that it wasn't some unsuspecting servant, or worse, Malik or Yugi. If Malik knew the nature of Ryou and Bakura's sexual habits, either from his own deduction or Marik's, he'd never indicated it. Ryou wasn't entirely certain he wanted anyone to find out this way; it could complicate matters far too much. Lazy steps sounded; the swish of sandals stalking across tile. Bakura had returned, and Ryou breathed a sigh of relief. It had been one thing to leave him alone, bound and often blindfolded, in their apartment for however long he saw fit. The duration of such abandonment had grown shorter after Bakura's attentions had gone from abusive to merely kinky, but Ryou much preferred the kiss of the lash or the sting of Bakura's palm to interminable minutes clicking by with only his anticipation for company.

"You should have packed a bit better, hikari," came Bakura's silken voice. "Or perhaps you were hoping I'd gone soft, and wouldn't feel the need to punish my rebellious little hikari."

"I'll do better next time, Bakura," Ryou promised solemnly, his entire body aching with need. What had Bakura acquired to use on him?

Fingernails slowly traced their way down Ryou's spine, sending hot sparks through his blood. His skin leapt and tingled beneath Bakura's expert fingers, and his breath came faster from the light, tantalizing touch. "And just what makes you think that there will ever be a 'next time', my hikari?"

The first bite of the lash into his flesh nearly sent Ryou into orgasm. Bakura had lost none of his dexterity, wielding the leather whip with an expert knowledge of his target. Over and over, the lash fell, raising angry welts across Ryou's back. Ryou cried out as the pain blossomed over his body, arching desperately into the column and barely able to contain his swiftly mounting climax. He'd missed this… by all the gods he'd missed this. "Bakura!"

"Yes, little one?" The hand that wielded the lash paused; knowing that Ryou wasn't in enough pain to call off the game, he took a moment to survey the weals he'd raised. If he pushed too much further, he'd break the skin; Bakura didn't want Ryou to bleed, just be good and sore. It would serve as a reminder later of the deep, hard fucking he was about to get. Ryou loved those reminders.

"I'm sorry, Bakura," Ryou pleaded, his breath ragged and shallow. His back was hot and throbbing in time with his cock; desperately, he wriggled against the column, hoping to entice Bakura away from the lash. He'd nearly reached his limit, and he didn't want to give his safe word before having a good, hard, long fuck unless absolutely necessary. "I'm sorry. I'll never leave you. I was a fool to even consider it. The Pharaoh can't make me leave; only you can. I won't ever leave unless you send me away, Bakura. Please, please forgive me."

Stepping closer, Bakura reached out, running light fingers over one of the welts. The sparks flashed through Ryou and he cried out in unabashed need, arching back into the touch. "Do you promise to obey me? In all things, regardless of the Pharaoh's edicts?"

"Yes, Bakura," Ryou pledged. At that moment, he would have promised anything, if only to get Bakura buried to the hilt inside him. "I promise I'll obey only you."

"Good." A clatter and then followed by a clink. The lash cast aside and a bottle taken up. Long, callused fingers coated with cool, fragrant oil worked their way up into Ryou, massaging the oil into the muscles; Ryou bit hard on his lower lip in an effort to keep his orgasm under control. He wasn't allowed to come until Bakura said so, but after so long without this, it was damnably difficult to restrain it.

Bakura's own desire was riding him just as hard. His patience wearing thin now, it was all he could do to make certain Ryou's body was prepared to receive him before he knifed into Ryou from behind. His hands clamped bruisingly on Ryou's hips as he slid deep and fast; Ryou's head fell back onto his shoulder as he moaned, long and loud, rearing back against Bakura and straining at his bonds. Bakura nipped sharply at his throat, chastising him again; Ryou only panted louder and arched harder against Bakura's churning hips, his erection brushing against the marble column as Bakura pounded into him.

It barely lasted longer than the lashing. Neither one had the emotional stability right now for a marathon, nor was one really needed. Ryou ground his hips back against Bakura's, aching and trembling and needing. "Bakura… Bakura, please!"

"Yes, hikari…" Bakura murmured. He knew what Ryou wanted; he needed to feel his hikari climaxing around him, dangerously close to a climax himself. "Come for me, little one. Come now."

Ryou needed no further command. His fingers dug hard into the rope binding his wrists as his climax erupted, a scream of completion tearing from his throat. Bakura's fingers dug so hard into his hips, Ryou was almost sure he would break one, not that he cared as he felt Bakura erupt inside him with a hoarse shout of his own. For long moments, they remained there, sagging into the column as though without it they might slither to the floor in a heap. Breathing hard, Bakura barely managed to pull himself together and untie Ryou's bonds. The moment the rope went slack, Ryou's knees seemed to give from sheer exhaustion, and Bakura caught him up, carrying him to bed.

Curling up in the soft, cool sheets, Ryou nestled deeply into Bakura's embrace. Bakura held him tightly for long moments, trying not to aggravate the sore welts on Ryou's back as he cuddled his hikari. "Why, Ryou?" he asked finally. "You've never initiated this before. Why?"

"You wanted to. You never would have admitted it, but you did." Ryou replied softly, burrowing into that firm, smooth chest. "And I needed it, after this morning."

Bakura shook his head, twice amazed by his little one. "I love you, Ryou. I don't think I'll ever be able to say that enough to make up for how much I hurt you."

Huge chocolate eyes turned up to gaze at Bakura, innocence and desire mingling with such potency that Bakura nearly rolled Ryou again. Only remembering that Ryou needed cuddled and not fucked after such rough play stemmed his lust. "Saying it doesn't make up for that, Bakura. The fact that you do at all does."

Tears burned in Bakura's dark eyes as Ryou nestled back into his chest. Wrapping his arms even more protectively around his hikari, Bakura silently made the same vow that he'd extracted from his hikari: no matter what the Pharaoh or the gods or anyone else did or said, he would never allow Ryou to be taken from him again.


	12. A Little Shake of the Head Hurts

Two agitated yamis, two sleepy-eyed hikaris, and one emotionally exhausted hikari woke up the next morning to one of the Pharaoh's highly annoying messengers knocking at the door.  
  
Bakura and Marik only growled threateningly at them, but he only seemed to ignore them and turned his eyes to the smallest hikari who was shivering in the middle of the group and holding on tightly to Ryou's shirt.  
  
"Our Pharaoh wishes to see his.pleas - "  
  
Bakura jumped from the bed and grabbed the messenger's shirt, growling with intimidation. "You better think twice before you finish that sentence. His name is Yugi and you'll call him by nothing else." He said, just quiet enough so the hikari in the middle couldn't hear.  
  
"Our Pharaoh wishes to see Yugi in his chambers." The messenger restated.  
  
"That's better." Bakura released the man and climbed back onto the bed. Noticing the messenger wasn't leaving he growled again and the man seemed to take the hint.  
  
"What would he want to see me about?" Yugi asked, confused.  
  
"I thought he would've known better. I told him you'd come see him when you wanted to. You don't have to go, Yugi."  
  
Yugi looked down at the wrinkled sheets on the bed and nodded. "I know I don't, but I should.  
  
"In that case," Ryou spoke up, causing Yugi to look at him, "I'll help you clean up your face. It looks like you've been crying for hours and I'm sure you wouldn't want Yami to see that."  
  
Yugi nodded and let Ryou lead him into the adjoining room. A few minutes later the two came back and Yugi headed for the door.  
  
"Would you like us to come with you, Yugi?" Malik questioned.  
  
"No, I'll be fine."  
  
"If he does anything to hurt you, you can always come back here. We'll be waiting for you." Bakura offered.  
  
Yugi only nodded and pulled open the door.  
  
~~  
  
The walk to Yami's chambers didn't seem to take very long at all. It seemed like he had only just stepped out of Ryou and Bakura's rooms when he arrived at his destination. With slight hesitation he knocked on the door.  
  
The door opened and Yugi slowly stepped in. He jumped when the door closed behind him and he turned to see Yami standing there looking more tired that he had been the night before when he cried himself to sleep in Bakura and everyone else's arms.  
  
"Yami, I - "  
  
Yami quickly walked forward and placed two fingers over Yugi's lips to stop him from continuing. "Please, listen to me, Yugi. I never meant for it to seem like I didn't care and that I wanted you to leave; I never wanted that. I just know how you are about your family and your friends and you will end up missing them eventually if you choose to stay here."  
  
Yugi backed away from Yami and instead turned to look out the window. "Yami, don't you think I would've realized all that when I first stepped through that portal. I made my decision so wouldn't you think I'd live with the consequences? You could've at least let me stay a bit longer before telling me to leave."  
  
"I didn't mean that day, Yugi. I only meant when all of us agreed it was time for you to go."  
  
"Yami, I'm not a little kid anymore. I can make my own decisions for myself. I don't need you or anybody else to hold my hand."  
  
"Yugi - "  
  
"No, Yami. I hate it when people treat me like a little kid. I can take care of myself and my decisions are for my own reasons. Why can't anybody just accept the fact that I do know what I want in my life?"  
  
"I know that, Yugi. Please, can't your just forgive me and put this matter behind us?"  
  
Yugi's eyes widened and he glared at Yami. "You mean forgive and forget, right?"  
  
"If that's what you want."  
  
Yugi sighed and shook his head, turning to the door. He pulled it open and paused before speaking up again without turning around. "No, Yami, I can't just forget. You hurt me, Yami, and I know it hasn't many times before but that's the fact that you still did it and you don't even know how to apologize sincerely. I think being Pharaoh for this long has made your head swell into thinking you really can do whatever you want." With that said Yugi walked out the door and let it close with a slight thud behind him.  
  
~~  
  
Yugi opened the door to Bakura and Ryou's room and was surprised to see all of them pretty much where he'd last seen them on the bed. All four of them looked up and Ryou was the first to jump off the bed and bring him into his arms.  
  
"Yugi, what happened? What did he want?"  
  
Yugi mumbled something into his shirt and Ryou had to ask him to repeat it after pulling away slightly.  
  
"I said that Yami wanted me to forgive and forget for him."  
  
Malik gasped and grabbed a fistful of sheets in his hands. "That's the lowest thing he could possibly do right now to ask for Yugi's forgiveness. Doesn't he realize how much he hurt you?"  
  
"I guess not." He pulled away from Ryou and turned back towards the still open door. "I just wanted to let you guys know so you wouldn't worry. If you don't mind now, I'd like to just be by myself for a while." He stepped out the door without waiting for them to reply and headed down the deserted hall.  
  
Walking outside he stepped up to the closed gate and stared down at the village below. He took a deep breath and let it out in a large sigh. He slid down against the bars on the gate and sat down in the rocks with a soft plop.  
  
"I'm not even sure I know how to go back home." He announced to himself softly.  
  
Yugi didn't know how long he stayed outdoors but he knew it must've been a few hours since the sun was now high in the sky and sweat was dripping down his face and neck from the heat. He decided to go back inside the palace and cool down but when he turned around he bumped into somebody. Backing away and saying apologies for his accident he froze when he saw whom it was.  
  
"I saw you sitting out here for the longest time. I thought you might like some company." Yami told him.  
  
"Well, I was just going back inside so you can get back to your own duties. After all, ruling Egypt can't be as simple as hanging around somebody like me all the time." Yugi then pushed past Yami since he kept trying to block his way and made his was for the slightly opened doors.  
  
"Please, Yugi, can't you forgive me? I'm sorry about what I said. It was wrong!"  
  
Yugi paused at the door and turned back to face Yami and slowly shook his head negatively. "I can't just forget what you said, Yami. Why can't you realize that?" Without waiting for a reply Yugi stepped inside the much cooler palace, leaving Yami outside.  
  
~~  
  
The encounters with Yami continued throughout the day. After running into him at the front gates he also met him while wondering the halls, in the gardens, Yugi even went as far as hiding in the dungeons to get some privacy but Yami found him in there also. Every time he asked for the same thing and every time Yugi gave him the same answer before leaving him behind.  
  
The next time he ran into Yami it was in the kitchens where he was getting something to eat since he'd skipped breakfast and was too busy getting away from Yami to get some lunch and dinner had already passed.  
  
Yami stood in front of the door blocking the only exit except for the window and Yugi wouldn't dare jump out that unless he wanted to kill himself. The Pharaoh motioned for everybody to get out before proceeding towards Yugi and holding his shoulders just tightly enough so Yugi couldn't escape but wouldn't hurt him.  
  
"Yugi, can't you give me a better answer than you can't forgive me, like why you can't? I told you I was sorry. I even talked to Ryou and Malik; I even went to Bakura and Marik in hopes for a little help in how to get you to forget. I don't think I've ever met anybody more confusing than those two thieves. Please, Yugi just tell me how to make it better? If you don't want to leave yet than you don't have to." Yami pleaded.  
  
Yugi sighed and stopped struggling under Yami's hands gripping his shoulders. "You just don't get it, do you, Yami? You hurt me and you're just asking me to forget it. I just.can't."  
  
Yami stepped away from Yugi, finally understanding what the five had been trying to tell him.  
  
//"Yugi isn't the same person you knew when you left. He's had to grown up so much in those two years. He just isn't the type to forget something like telling him to leave and make it seem you don't want him when he' s given up so much to be with you." Ryou explained sadly.//  
  
//"Yugi and the rest of us got into an argument a short while after you left, Yami," Malik explained. "Seto excused him accidentally of not loving you and he's already proved that he has many times since then. He distanced himself from us and we were all worried about him; we tried everything to get him to forgive us and he wouldn't until we really proved ourselves that we were sincerely sorry about what we had done. Yugi gave Ryou and me a break since we didn't actually say it and I bet if he ever sees Seto again he's going to wait until he knows for sure that Seto's sorry about what he said."//  
  
//"Listen, Pharaoh, Yugi's told you he isn't a child anymore, right?" Bakura questioned, annoyed at having been pulled away from Ryou. He continued without waiting for an answer, "Well, that's the truth. I don't know what's been going on the past two years we were away from him but the truth is is that everybody changes and Yugi is defiantly one of those people. Imagine all the times he's been deceived because he's so caring and forgiving. All those times he was betrayed because of it; he was bound to have hardened a little because of it and there's your result."//  
  
//Marik stared at the Pharaoh irritably before deciding to answer Yami's question. "If you ask my opinion and if I were Yugi, I wouldn't forgive you for the longest time, but that's just me. I heard what Bakura said to you though and as much as it might hurt, Yugi has definitely hardened in these last two years, and I don't blame him at all. You might want to actually try thinking about what you said before trying to confront Yugi about it."//  
  
// Yugi's eyes widened and he glared at Yami. "You mean forgive and forget, right?" - Yugi paused at the door and turned back to face Yami and slowly shook his head negatively. "I can't just forget what you said, Yami. Why can't you realize that?" - Yugi sighed and stopped struggling under Yami's hands gripping his shoulders. "You just don't get it, do you, Yami? You hurt me and you're just asking me to forget it. I just.can't."//  
  
"I see.I am sorry though, Yugi, and I wish you'd believe me. I'll just leave you alone; it's obvious I won't get slight forgiveness for a while if at all." Yami turned and walked out the door. He paused at the door and turned back to Yugi with tired eyes. "Could you at least come to my chambers so we can spend the night together? You don't have to sleep in the same bed, I could have one fixed up for you."  
  
Yugi seemed to think about it for a minute before closing his eyes and shaking his head.  
  
Hurt swelled up inside Yami, but he tried his best not to let it show lest he run into somebody on the way up to his chambers, he didn't feel like having people questioning him about it. "I understand, Yugi. I'll see you in the morning then?" Yami didn't wait for a reply. He turned and walked out the door letting it swing shut behind him.  
  
Yugi felt terrible for treating Yami like this but he couldn't just forgive me. 'Yami needs to understand that I'm part of this relationship too and that I can make decisions for myself.' With that thought in mind he left the kitchens and headed towards Ryou and Bakura's rooms.  
  
~~  
  
Yami spent the whole night sitting in his bed or looking out his window overlooking Egypt trying to think of someway for Yugi to understand that he was sorry for what he'd done. Deep down he knew he was extremely sorry and that somehow he knew Yugi knew he was too, but he still seemed to need to show he was for Yugi to really forgive him. It couldn't be any sort of a bribery either; it has to special. Maybe a large party where he announced his undying love - 'No, too short of notice and I don't know how long Yugi's going to give me before he decides to leave.' Maybe he could go on a picnic with Yugi and they could just spend the day together - 'My advisors would never stand for it. They care more about Egypt than if my personal life is in ruins.'  
  
It was even longer before Yami realized that he couldn't do anything with Yugi that would help to show how sorry he was. He was stuck in the palace where people could find him with ease, he didn't know how long Yugi was going to stay before giving up on him, and Yugi wouldn't come anywhere near him for longer than five minutes.  
  
'Have I possibly ruined everything between us that there isn't anymore hope?' 


	13. A Red Rose means Beauty and a White Rose...

Yugi awoke the next morning feeling oddly giddy and he couldn't pinpoint a reason why he should be. He was in a.fight, you could say, with Yami and he treated him terribly the day before. He could think of one reason though, even though that was highly strange how he though it up as well, but for some reason he knew that that day was going to be a good day.  
  
He looked over to Ryou and Bakura to find they were still deep asleep and curled up against each other. He thanked all the gods he knew that he slept above the covers though so that way he could leave the room and he wouldn't have to have bothered the sleeping couple with trying to untangle himself from them. Carefully, so the bed wouldn't bounce, he got of the bed and quietly opened the door. Once in the safety of the hall he gave out a loud sigh of relief that he hadn't disturbed the couple from their sleep. Walking a couple doors down, Yugi peeked inside Malik and Marik's room to see if they were up and he smiled slightly at the way they were a tangle of arms and legs around each other. How they could sleep like that comfortably, Yugi may never know.  
  
The violet-eyed teen walked around the palace wondering how he could've awoken so early before everyone else. He knew one thing he had to do though, he had to find Yami and talk to him, apologize for the way he acted yesterday and somehow make it up to him. He would've slept in their room the night before, but he just had a weird feeling that Yami would just end up kissing him and then they'd end doing some other, rather enjoyable, things that would've just defeated the whole purpose of being mad at the Pharaoh.  
  
Finding one of the servants he went to go ask if they knew where Yami would be or if he was even up.  
  
"Yes, he woke up much earlier than usual this morning." The girl explained to him. "He was rather impatient actually, but also very excited about something too. I'm afraid he's not here though. He left about an hour ago to do something important."  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
"Kira!"  
  
Yugi and the girl looked around the corner just in time to see another of the servants, a blonde girl, prevent from becoming one with wall before coming to a stop in front of them.  
  
"Miko, are you okay? You know you shouldn't be running the halls even if Pharaoh isn't here."  
  
"I know," the girl jumped up and down, "but."  
  
Yugi interrupted to excuse himself, not wanting to become part of girls' daily gossips. 'Some things never change.' He told himself. He looked back just in time to see the second girl, Miko, pull away from whispering something in the other girl, Kira's, ear. They took one look back at Yugi before a blush covered both their faces and they started giggling together silently and pointing after him.  
  
Yugi found himself irritated at their behavior and started to walk faster and didn't stop until he rounded another corner. He found he didn't escape the giggling though. The second he opened his eyes from resting against the wall he lent himself against more giggling girls and even some boys were pointing at them with flushes on their faces. He growled silently to himself and walked by them, trying his best to ignoring their pointing and hushed whispers before giggling reached his ears.  
  
Reaching the kitchens, where the people obviously knew what the rest of the servants knew, but at least didn't do anything embarrassing about it, Yugi sat down on one of the stools and sighed into his hands.  
  
"Yugi," one of the younger girls asked. Yugi looked up to acknowledge her. "Are you feeling okay? You look a bit flustered."  
  
"I was barely up for half an hour before girls' giggling and gossiping started following me everywhere. I seem to be the top thing to talk about today."  
  
The girl's eyes widened. "They didn't say anything to you, did they?"  
  
Yugi eyed her suspiciously. "No," he said slowly. "Why?"  
  
"I must be getting back to work now, Yugi. Please, excuse me." She bowed slightly and then turned around and quickly walked away.  
  
The teen knew that she knew something important now and he wanted to know what. It was only noon and he was cursing himself out for ever thinking that it could be a good day. He was about to stand and start demanding answers from the girl when he heard a gruff voice from the entrance call his name. He looked around and all the kitchen servants were bowing to whoever was behind him. He turned also and found that one of Yami's most trusted advisor was standing there with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Yes?" Yugi asked cautiously, not sure why Yami's advisor would want anything with him.  
  
"Follow me, please."  
  
Curious, Yugi did decide to follow him and they didn't go too far before they stopped in front of a few girls Yugi hadn't seen before.  
  
"Yugi, these are our Pharaoh's special servants that help him clean up most exceptionally elegantly whenever a special event is to occur. It has been requested that they help you for tonight."  
  
Yugi raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What's happening tonight?"  
  
"Our Pharaoh has made it clear that nobody is to tell you and please forgive us if we confuse you, but it is orders. Just go with the girls and we promise you will find out what's going on soon enough."  
  
Yugi hesitated long enough for the three girls and the advisor to get nervous into thinking he wasn't going to let this happen, but he nodded and turned to the girls.  
  
The advisor clapped his hands together excitedly. "Excellent. Don't worry, Yugi, you are in the best of hands."  
  
The girls smiled at him and gestured for him to follow them, which he did.  
  
Yugi was led into a part of the palace he never bothered to go into before, now he wished he had. The hall leading to it looked boring enough but once you passed the simple doors it was decorated beautifully with flowers covering nearly the entirety of the floor making it smell elegant no matter where you were.  
  
"Is this part of the palace decorated for a special reason?" Yugi asked, looking around at the flower ropes that stringed across the walls like banners.  
  
"This part of the palace is always looking like this," one of the girls told him.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Our Pharaoh Yami believes that wherever beauty is made it should look beautiful there too. That's why none of the older men work here, because they'd only make things look manly." The second girl giggled. "There are a few younger boys here that help us and the other women that work back here."  
  
"Oh." Yugi looked around before glancing back at the three girls. "I never got your names."  
  
The girls smiled back at him before slowing down so he could walk next to them rather than behind.  
  
The girl who hadn't spoken up since Yugi had seen her introduced herself first. "I'm Alicia." She had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes.  
  
"I'm Miaki." The straight, longhaired brunette on the left of Yugi smiled and him and rubbed his spiky hair playfully, her brown eyes glittering happily.  
  
"And last, but not least, I'm Kido." The longhaired, curly-haired redhead on the right side of Yugi smiled down at him, her jade colored eyes sparkled joyously.  
  
Yugi nodded and repeated their names to himself so he wouldn't forget them.  
  
It wasn't long before the three girls paused in front of a large oak door and pushed it open for Yugi.  
  
"Why don't he undress behind that curtain over there while we got get the water ready." Kido told him.  
  
Yugi blushed and nodded, backing away slowly towards the curtain. Looking at the curtain he found it was really nothing more than a white sheet pinned against the wall and then pinned to a pillar to make it look like a curtain. Walking behind it he found a towel sitting on a chair and he guessed that was what he had to wrap around himself when he was undressed.  
  
Walking out a couple minutes later his nose was assaulted with an elegant scent of flowers and he followed it all the way to a built in bathtub with rose petals floating on the surface of the steaming hot water.  
  
"Ah, Yugi, just in time." The brunette giggled and led him to the water.  
  
Yugi blushed as he asked the girls if they would mind looking away while he was getting in. The girls only laughed at him, but turned around much to Yugi's gratefulness. He removed the towel and placed it at the edge of the tub and settled in the steaming water.  
  
"Comfortable?" The blonde asked.  
  
Yugi nodded and squirmed slightly as Miaki slid a finger down his cheek, causing it to tickle.  
  
"Good. Just relax." Alicia told him.  
  
Yugi did so and found it very easy to stay that way even with the three girls in the room with and he closed his eyes and sighed deeply.  
  
The girls dropped a few oils into the water and rubbed them against Yugi's skin almost like his skin were made of the most fragile of glass.  
  
When they were finished Yugi felt a million times more relaxed than he'd ever felt before after taking a relaxing, warm bath. They helped him out of the water and wrapped the towel around his waist. Instead of leading him back to where his clothes were left they led him out the door and around the corner.  
  
Yugi finally realized what was going on when the girls started measuring him and calling out for a few items of clothing that Yugi noticed young boys and girls were bringing in as they were called for.  
  
It seemed like hours of standing on the pedestal and having the girls bringing clothes up to him to see what they would look like before they finally told him to go try one particular outfit on. He held it tightly in his hands as the girls ushered him behind another curtain.  
  
Yugi dropped the towel and carefully put on the expensive looking clothing. He walked back out to show the girls what it looked like and he found the girls gaping at him.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked quietly.  
  
"Wow Yugi! I think this is our best work yet!" Miaki shouted excitedly and scrambled over to hug him tightly.  
  
"Except for this." Kido stepped forward and undid some of the buttons on his shirt before backing up and nodding with a large smile on her face. "We've outdone ourselves."  
  
"Follow us, Yugi. You can see what it looks like." Alicia gestured and he followed her and the two other girls to an adjoining room and in front of a large mirror.  
  
He gasped and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He never would have thought he'd see him wearing something like this, but even he had to admit that he looked good - no; definitely something else. He couldn't even find words for it.  
  
He wasn't wearing any shoes, but it didn't seem to bother him like it mostly would've other times, not overly bagging pants that were an off white colored tied up with a dark blue cord, A slightly loose long-sleeved off white shirt that was buttoned up minus three of the buttons at the top, a dark blue vest with white trimming that was pulled over the shirt.  
  
"Well, what do you think, Yugi?"  
  
Yugi turned back to the girls. "I - I don't know what to say." He admitted.  
  
The three girls' smiles could only widen before they took his hands and led him out of the room and into another where all types of jewelry in all different colors covered the walls.  
  
Yugi sat down in the chair Miaki indicated before the three girls disappeared. They returned a minute later with a dark blue, thin choker and wrapped it around his neck.  
  
"No, I don't think so." Alicia took it away as Miaki held up a pair of earrings to his ears before a frown covered her face and she gasped, a look of horror crossed her face.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
Miaki looked back the two girls with a frown. "One earring would be perfect, but he doesn't have any holes."  
  
Yugi paled and raised a hand to his ear and rubbed it with his forefinger and thumb. 'Me? With a pierced ear? What would grandpa say?' He tried to imagine it and ended up taking one of the earrings in Miaki's hand and held it up to his ear. He was surprised to see that he actually liked the way it looked. He turned in his chair with a shy smile. "You could make a piercing if you really want me to have the earring."  
  
The girls' frowns were quickly erased with excited smiles and all three asking if he was really sure. Yugi only closed his eyes tightly and nodded.  
  
"This is much too perfect for words!" Kido exclaimed happily. She hugged Yugi tightly. "Oh thank you, Yugi! You won't regret this!" She turned back to the other two girls. "Okay, Alicia you go get the needle and Miaki go get some cold water and a washrag."  
  
The two girls nodded and hurried away. Yugi didn't think they took long enough to go retrieve the wanted items and he started shaking nervously.  
  
Kido seemed to understand and pulled him out of the chair and she took the seat instead, pulling him into her lap and wrapping her arms lovingly around him. "Don't worry, Yugi. We'll make this as painless as possible."  
  
Yugi could only nod his head and hold onto her tighter.  
  
Alicia brought over a candle and placed it in a closer holder. She held the long, thin needle up to the heart of flame and kept it there.  
  
Miaki brought over the water bowl and placed it on a table nearby. After soaking the rag in it for a few minutes she brought it over and waited for Kido to finish wrapping a rag around Yugi so he wouldn't get his clothes wet. Kido nodded and Miaki held the soft skin in the rag, causing Yugi to shiver slightly from how cold it was.  
  
After a few minutes of having the cold rag held to his ear he found it felt slightly numb. The rag was pulled away and the earring was handed to Kido, who continued to hold him tightly.  
  
"Just hold to me, Yugi. As tightly as you want, okay sweetie." Kido told him and only signaled Alicia over once Yugi nodded.  
  
Yugi clenched his eyes shut tight when he felt Alicia come closer and then suddenly something hot and sharp made a hole in his ear and he couldn't help the loud shriek and a followed sob after his ear started to pulse with a painful sting continuing to throb. The needle was quickly taken out and the earring placed with a click in it.  
  
"Shh. Don't worry Yugi. It's all over now." Kido rocked the teen back and forth in her lap before he finally started to calm down.  
  
Yugi looked up with reddened eyes before he smiled at the three girls. Miaki was holding the cold rag back over his ear and it helped immensely.  
  
"Want to see?" Alicia asked him.  
  
Yugi nodded and he followed the blonde over to a small mirror and he looked and found it looked even better than he thought.  
  
"It'll be red still for a few minutes so just be careful until then. By tonight I'll doubt you'll even remember it's there it'll feel so natural. Just don't take it out before then."  
  
Yugi nodded and followed the three girls out of the room and into another room where he had to sit out. He was surprised to see that the sky was slightly darkened and he couldn't believe how long he'd been with the girls.  
  
This time it didn't take very long at all for them to finish since all they did were getting rid of the few tangles that were in his hair and dried it up a bit from the water that still wanted to cling to his strands.  
  
"I'll be right back." Kido told them before she disappeared.  
  
A few minutes she returned with Yami's advisor and even he looked completely surprised at how gorgeous Yugi looked.  
  
"I must say girls this is most definitely your best work. Kido, you weren't kidding when you said he nearly looked like he could be Pharaoh himself."  
  
Yugi blushed but stood when he was motioned to follow the advisor.  
  
"See you later, Yugi." The three girls called after him as he was led back out the doors he first entered through hours again. "Have fun!"  
  
Yugi didn't know what they meant, but he had a fleeting idea that it had something to do with whatever was going on tonight that everybody except him seemed to know about. He followed the advisor towards Yami's rooms and he blushed in embarrassed that he hadn't figured out this had something to do with Yami. He was surprised though when the advisor passed Yami's chambers all together and he felt a bit down that maybe it wasn't Yami's idea after all and somebody else's. 'Maybe Bakura and the others in an attempt to cheer me up. They must've done something major to the staff to get them to follow their orders though.'  
  
Yugi was so deep in his thoughts that he barely registered that the advisor had stopped and almost bumped into him.  
  
"You've been awaited quite anxiously all day, Yugi. Do do what the girls say and have fun." That was all the advisor said before leaving him back the way they came.  
  
Taking a deep breath to calm whatever nerves that seemed to have risen in him Yugi knocked on the door and was surprised when it seemed to open of its own accord. He took a step in and immediately gasped.  
  
Candles were lit up on the walls causing ethical glows to form on the walls and other candles were also placed randomly over the floor. Looking up he was even more taken away by the thousands of fireflies that were flying around the room completing the look. It also didn't pass Yugi that an elegant scent was wafting through the room from the corners of the room.  
  
Yugi jumped slightly when a deep voice from directly behind him. "Do you like it, Yugi?"  
  
"It's beautiful." The teen whispered. He wasn't surprised when two arms wrapped around his waist and the voice replied directly next to his newly pierced ear.  
  
"Almost as much as you, love." The person dipped down and picked Yugi up bridal style and carried him over to a circle of candles that was more noticeable now that he looked more closely at them.  
  
He was surprised when he placed down that he wasn't met with the hard floor but instead soft, cushioned pillows. The person behind finally moved in front of him and Yugi gasped when he got a better look under the dim light of the candle flame.  
  
"Yami, you look - wow."  
  
Yami smiled lightly and nodded. "You look much to beautiful for words, Yugi. I think I recall a line from your literature book a few years ago that drew my attention that would be perfect for you. 'If words were made of breath, and breath of life, then I have no life to breathe.' (1)."  
  
Yugi blushed and nodded a thank you.  
  
"Yugi?"  
  
The teen looked up and was surprised to find that somehow the lights seemed to have somehow lightened and he could seem Yami clearly. He was even more surprised when he noticed Yami was holding to roses, a red and white one, in his hand and was holding them up to him. Yugi took them hesitantly and brought them up to his nose to smell them.  
  
"The red for your unmatchable beauty. I love you, Yugi, and, even though I have no idea how somebody as perfect as you would ever end up with me and stay with me when I've already you in more ways than I ever would've liked and never wanted to anyway, I always want to be able to be with you. The yellow is for forgiveness. I never meant to make it sound like I didn't want you here, Yugi. I would never ever want that, especially when you came back to me. That only proves your love to me and I've only been, as Bakura and Marik plain and clearly put it, a complete and utter bastard. I may have wanted what was best for you, but I still shouldn't have made it seem like I was ordering you to go back to your time. You may leave whenever you wish and I promise, with all my heart, Yugi, that I will never treat you like a child again. Will you please forgive me, love of my life?" (2)  
  
Tears had started in Yugi's eyes as soon as he started to explain about the red rose, but now they were streaming down his face and he tried to find it in himself to nod, but he just somehow couldn't. Instead he stood and placed the roses on his pillow.  
  
Yami thought he was refusing him though and he looked down at the floor so he wouldn't see Yugi leave. He was surprised out of his mind though when Yugi crawled into his lap though and nuzzled his cheek into his mahogany vest and sighed in contentment. "Does - does this mean you forgive me, Yugi?"  
  
"Yami," Yugi started without looking up at him, "just by saying what you did I think I've fallen in love with you all over again."  
  
The ruby-eyed Pharaoh wasn't expecting such a response and in reply he wrapped his arms around Yugi and held him tightly, kissing him on the forehead before resting his own cheek in his lover's soft hair.  
  
"And Yami?"  
  
"Yes, love?"  
  
"I will sleep with you tonight."  
  
Yami chuckled lightly as it seemed like Yugi had read his mind to his next request.  
  
~~  
  
Okay I thought this would be the perfect line and I found it in an email I got. It's from Shakespeare's: Hamlet. And I know that the red and white roses don't mean that, but it's my story and I wanted them to mean that since the red and white roses are my favorite colored roses. Don't even ask how they had roses in Egypt because, like I said, it's my story and if I want roses in Egypt I will have roses in Egypt. 


	14. The Discovery

Yugi awoke the next morning feeling better than he'd ever felt in a long time, minus a slight sharpness in his lower back. Looking around we he lay he didn't notice Yami anywhere in the room, but he wasn't worried since he could hear him in the next room.  
  
Yami came out a minute later and smiled at seeing Yugi awake. "Good morning, love. How do you feel?"  
  
"Better than ever." Yugi tried to lean up to go to Yami, but a sharp pain that suddenly coursed through him and he lay back down. "Maybe not so good."  
  
"It had been a while since we've made love like last night; I must've been too hard for the first time."  
  
Yugi nodded and blushed slightly, turning his newly pierced ear towards Yami, causing it to sparkle in the rising morning sun. "I still enjoyed it."  
  
Yami smiled and walked over to the bed, sitting down gentle so it wouldn't stir Yugi. He raised his hand and caressed his ear. "I like it on you, but if you do decide to go back won't your grandfather be upset?"  
  
"No, he'll understand. I don't think there's anything he won't believe after the Millennium Items and all the magic that'd been happening."  
  
Yami nodded. "I suppose you're right." He leaned over and gently kissed the earring. "Hungry, love?"  
  
"Starving."  
  
"I'll be right back. Don't move; I don't want you to hurt yourself."  
  
Yugi nodded and watched Yugi leave. Turning slightly he packed up a few pillows so he could sit up against them and lay back against them. 'Last night had to have been one of the best nights of my life.' He thought.  
  
Yami returned a few minutes later with a tray full of Yugi's favorites as well as four people trailing behind him.  
  
"Hey, Yugi. I was a worried about you when I didn't see you at all yesterday. Then I saw Yami heading for the kitchens and he told me you two made up. That's great!" Ryou told him, sitting gently down on the bed so it wouldn't move too much; Yugi was grateful for that.  
  
"Heard you had lots of fun too. Shame it hurts to move though." Marik smirked, enjoying the embarrassed blush that appeared on the shorter teen's slightly tanned cheeks.  
  
"Wow, Yugi! Is that real?" Malik suddenly sputtered out as he dropped to his knees and pulled Yugi closer to look at the earring. "Oh Ra! It is! Way to go, Yugi! I didn't think you had the guts to go with something like that!"  
  
Yugi blushed again and nodded. "I had it done yesterday while I was getting ready to see Yami with some help from a few of some very helpful girls." He explained. "They were upset because I didn't have a pierced ear so I told them they could make one after seeing how good it looked."  
  
"Well if Ryou didn't exist I don't definitely go after you; no matter if you were with Pharaoh or not. You're hot with it!" Bakura teased.  
  
Yugi blushed for a third time and Ryou looked down at the ground.  
  
"Aw, don't worry, Ryou." Bakura knelt beside him and wrapped his arms around his middle, careful about moving the bed. "I'd never leave you in infinite years. I love you too much to ever even think about it."  
  
Ryou nodded and wrapped his own arms around Bakura.  
  
"Forgive me?"  
  
"I forgive you, 'Kura." He whispered into his shirt.  
  
Bakura felt like killing Malik and Marik when he heard them holding in their laughter at Ryou's nickname for him. He left it alone though since he didn't want to let go of Ryou.  
  
Then Yami spoke up. "Breakfast is going to get cold and Yugi did say he was starving. As I told you in the hall, you're welcome to stay for as long as you want or until Yugi asks you to leave."  
  
The four guests nodded and they tucked into a warm breakfast before the sun got to high and they wouldn't be interested in anything warm.  
  
~~  
  
"Yami?" Yugi asked as he looked out the window from where he lay on the bed.  
  
Their four friends had left shortly after breakfast to leave the couple alone and they'd been there since. The sun was now almost gone from the sky to show it was close to sunset, maybe an hour and a half.  
  
Yami looked up from a game he'd been working on. "Hmm?"  
  
"I thought Ancient Egypt was supposed to have Duel Monsters running free from the Shadow Realm, but I haven't seen even a footprint of a monster since I got here."  
  
Yami smiled and stood up, taking a seat on the bed and taking Yugi's hand. "You want to see one?"  
  
Yugi smiled at him and nodded. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet one in person, Yami. If I ever do decide to leave then at least I took all opportunities I could, and meeting a Duel Monster would be a great highlight."  
  
Yami laughed and nodded. "Yes, I must agree with that." He stood and held out his arms for Yugi to hold. "Come on then, I'll take you to show you where they are."  
  
Yugi smiled and pulled back the sheets.  
  
"Does it still hurt?"  
  
"No, just a dull throbbing now."  
  
Yami nodded and he led them to his closet. Yugi was confused until surprise cut him off from asking when Yami muttered something in Egyptian and a secret door appeared. They walked through and it disappeared behind them as they walked past, leaving them in complete darkness.  
  
It seemed to Yugi like they were walking for several hours before he felt Yami stop and then mutter another something in Egyptian and a dull light poured into the hall.  
  
Stepping through the small passage that was now open Yugi was surprised at what he saw. It was obvious they were in a deep part of the castle if not nearly underground altogether. Near the top the sun shone through large windows where the only barricades were magic blocking the way through the windows.  
  
"Back when we had to contain them and they became too hard to control the strongest mages we had cast spells on the windows so no monster could pass by the windows during the day. An hour after the sun sets though the spells fade and the monsters are free to roam about. An hour before the sun starts to rise the monsters, especially so when we don't trust the monsters to come back here on their own, like Blue Eyes and the more powerful monsters, they go under a trance so they do come back. Other monsters that we do trust like Dark Magician come back on their own, but he usually just wanders the palace."  
  
Yugi started jumping up and down excitedly and pointing down below. "There he his, Yami; I see him! Can you introduce me, Yami? Please?"  
  
Yami shook his head and pointed to the windows that the magic was now showing to fade. A few seconds later they disappeared and most of the monsters headed out of them and took to the skies. Others that couldn't fly started to climb the stairs to get to the large windows.  
  
"What about outside, Yami? Don't people see the monsters through the windows?"  
  
Yami shook his head. "Another brilliance of the mages magic. To the outside people who don't know of it, which is everybody except for the pharaoh, the mages, and the high priest, nobody sees it only see it to be just another brink in the palace."  
  
Yugi nodded and watched the Dark Magician jumped out the window with Dark Magician Girl right behind him. "Maybe some other time them. From the sound of it they don't get much time to themselves and I'm sure they will whenever they can."  
  
It was Yami's turn to nod. "Yes, it's better to leave them alone at night. That's why I've placed a strict rule to be indoors during the time the monsters are out so nobody will run into them."  
  
"That's a good idea." Yugi yawned.  
  
Yami smiled and thought he looked adorable when tired. "Come on. Let's get some sleep."  
  
Yugi nodded and let himself be led back the way they came.  
  
~~  
  
Yugi only woke up once in the night after a strange dream of walking through what seemed like water but a lot thicker. When he looked over to see Yami still asleep he also saw another shadow and stiffened, thinking it was a tomb robber or somebody else out to get the Pharaoh's life. He was about to start shouting for help when he looked up towards where the person's face was supposed to be and his fear was quickly shared in with surprise. The Dark Magician was watching him with very careful eyes.  
  
When the mage saw Yugi watching him though he took a step back and faded out of the room.  
  
Rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out he concluded that the Duel Monster really was in the room and that for some reason the mage was watching him carefully, almost with a concerned expression on his face.  
  
'Has he always done that at night: come in here and watch Yami and me sleep?' He thought. He laid his head back down on the pillow to think, but instead fell asleep a few minutes later; now dreaming of two sharp blue eyes watching him carefully. 


	15. What's going to happen to Yugi?

That morning Yugi was thinking about what he'd seen last night with the Dark  
  
Magician in their room.  
  
'What had he been doing in here?' Yugi kept asking himself.  
  
When the amethyst-eyed teen saw Yami come out of the room he went over to him and wrapped his arms around him and mumbled out that something weird had happened last night.  
  
"What's that, love?" Yami asked as he wrapped his own arms around the teen.  
  
"The Dark Magician was in here and we was staring at us. He left though, after he saw that I was awake and looking at him.  
  
Yami just squeezed him tightly for a second before releasing him and heading over to the closet to find something to wear. "It was just a dream, Yugi; I'm sure." Seeing Yugi's discouraged expression at having such an odd dream he smiled. "Would it make it any better if I suggested we could go see the Duel Monsters again since you didn't get to meet with any of them yesterday?"  
  
Yugi slowly nodded and then lightly blushed as his stomach gave a protest at being empty.  
  
The Pharaoh laughed. "How bout we get some breakfast first?"  
  
In response, Yugi's blush darkened slightly, but he followed Yami out the door all the same after they got dressed.  
  
~~  
  
Arriving at the table where breakfast was served they smiled as they saw their four friends also seated around the table eating.  
  
"Hey, Yugi," Ryou waved at noticing them, "Yami."  
  
"Hi, guys." Yugi sat down and took an apple from the basket in the center of the table. "What are you guys thinking of doing today?"  
  
Malik shrugged. "Nothing much. Ryou and I were planning on playing a game later, maybe tonight; just something to pass the time. Other than that we don't have anything to do."  
  
Bakura and Marik just grumbled out that they had nothing to do since their hikaris felt too sore to do anything.  
  
Ryou and Malik blushed while Yugi giggled, trying to stifle it behind his hand.  
  
So," Marik continued, "We were just going to watch our hikaris play their game later tonight. Why? Did you have any ideas on what we could do besides sit here and be bored all day?"  
  
Yugi nodded. "Yeah. You could come with Yami and me," he suggested.  
  
The four perked up at the offer of something to do and also going somewhere.  
  
"Where are you going to go, Yugi?" Malik asked.  
  
"Is it fun and exciting?" Marik interrupted.  
  
"I'll do anything to get out of this place for something to do." Bakura jumped out of his seat.  
  
"Tell us, Yugi." Ryou told the smaller teen, the excitement of doing something also evident in his voice though he didn't show it like the others did.  
  
Yugi laughed at his friends' antics and looked to Yami to see if it were okay to invite them.  
  
Yami noticed his lover's look and glanced at their friends, rolling their eyes as they saw them looking back and forth between them anxiously. Finally, he let out a large sigh and nodded. He was hoping to get to be alone with Yugi after he was done questioning the Dark Magician, but if his little lover wanted to have his friends come with him then he could always wait until they decided to leave. "Very well, Yugi. They can come along if they wish too."  
  
Yugi gave him a large smile and wrapped his arms around his waist and giving him a small, but loving peck on the cheek. "Thank, Yami. I'm sure they'll love it." He turned back to the four staring at them impatiently now to find out where they were going to be going. "Yesterday Yami took me down deeper into the palace where on the Duel Monsters are kept for the day. Unfortunately, they're released after the sun goes down and I only got to see them for a couple minutes before they got to leave so Yami was going to take me back after breakfast so I can meet them then. Would you like to go?"  
  
"You mean all the Duel Monsters are directly beneath us?" Malik asked, looking to the floor nervously.  
  
"Yes," Yami answered, "but they can't leave that room until sunset. They're magically bounded into the room until then and the same goes for their powers so they can't blast their way out."  
  
Bakura smirked and grabbed Ryou's wrist. "We're in then." Ryou blushed slightly out of embarrassed for how weird Bakura was acting but nodded anyway.  
  
Malik and Marik glanced at each other before immediately agreeing they'd come too.  
  
"This ought to be fun." Malik jumped for joy now that he didn't have to be bored all day with his yami nagging him that he wanted attention.  
  
Yugi nodded and him and Yami led the way back up to Yami's room to go through the secret door.  
  
~~  
  
The six item holders walked through the dark passageway leading deeper and deeper within the palace to where the Duel Monsters were held. Finally they stopped and Yami mumbled out the words to open the magic door, knowing Bakura and Marik and maybe even Malik would be able make out a translation to them if he said it too loudly and he didn't need them causing trouble without him knowing about it, especially with Duel Monsters involved.  
  
Ryou looked over the large mass of powerful and weak monsters alike before his large brown eyes widened and he pointed excitedly somewhere in front of him. "Bakura, look! It's Change of Heart!"  
  
Bakura looked to where Ryou was pointing and nodded.  
  
"Can we, yami? Please?" He begged.  
  
Bakura rolled his eyes in mock irritation, but nodded with a smile and allowed Ryou to pull him down the stairs where they disappeared into the crowd of monsters.  
  
Malik watched them go with a smirk on his face before gasping as his arm was grasped and he too was being dragged into the crowd of monsters by his yami. "Marik! Where in Ra do you think you're taking me? I don't want to go down there!"  
  
"Malik, look further down." Marik simply told him as he continued to drag his hikari down the stone steps.  
  
He did and gasped when he saw a very large and very recognizable Duel Monster who he knew to be his favorite. He walked faster and ended up being the one pulling his other half. "What are we waiting for, Marik? You're so slow. I want to meet the great Dragon of Ra."  
  
Marik shook his head and they disappeared behind one of the larger monsters they didn't bother to look at as they pushed by as they headed for the powerful God Card.  
  
Yugi watched them before laughing at them and then looking over the monsters for the one he wanted to talk to. Yami tapped his shoulder and pointed over his shoulder to his left. Yugi looked to where he pointed and a small smile appeared on his face.  
  
Dark Magician Girl was sitting on a ledge looking out the window, playing with her golden hair absently and directly next to with his eyes closed as if asleep was the Dark Magician.  
  
Yugi starts heading toward them thinking he should ask about the night visit before his chance runs out since he didn't know if Yami would want to bring him back. Besides, he didn't want to assume that the mage was just there because he could be and wanted to watch them sleep rather than having a good reason for being there.  
  
He waved to the female mage when she smiled at him and walked to where the other mage sat with his eyes still closed. Not wanting to wake him he turned back to Dark Magician Girl with a questioning look.  
  
"He's awake, that lazy old bag of magic. He's so lazy." She giggled.  
  
Yugi smiled at what she called his favorite Duel Monster and nodded a thank you. He turned back to the male mage and whispered a quiet, "Hello."  
  
Blue eyes blinked open and the mage nodded a hello back to Yugi.  
  
Deciding to get straight to the point, since Yugi was sure if Dark Magician liked or even cared for small talk. Before he could open his mouth though the mage started talking first and he kept quiet to be polite.  
  
"I suppose you want to know what I was doing in yours and Master Yami's bedroom last night. I know you woke up and were surprised to see me watching you."  
  
Yugi swallowed but nodded anyway, not wanting to be rude or disrespect the mage in anyway.  
  
"You, Yugi, nor do your other friends belong in this era and you should leave." He put simply.  
  
Red flashed before Yugi, upset that he would just put it like that without a better reason. Once again though, the mage started talking before he could say anything in response.  
  
"I don't mean to be rude, little master, but it is the truth. You came here because the gods wished it upon you to say goodbye to your loves, not to stay here and gallivant in Egypt in stay her for the rest of your lives."  
  
The amethyst-eyed teen was outraged by now at how the Dark Magician could talk to him like this and still call him "little master" like it was respectful. He spoke this time before the mage. "We aren't "gallivanting" as you put it." He said, his throat tight from trying to repress from yelling and causing attention. "I know we have to go back, we all do, but we would like more time then a few days with our yamis. A month or something would be good, but you're making it sound like we need to leave this minute."  
  
Blue eyes widened as the mage realized just what he did and he tried to make it right. "No, little master, I don't mean to make it sound like that. I just."  
  
"Yugi?"  
  
The two looked behind Yugi and saw Yami standing there.  
  
"I have a feeling somebody is going to be looking for us if we stay much longer. Something is bound to go wrong up there if we don't get back. You know how some people can be when there isn't anybody to order them around."  
  
Yugi gave Yami a smile and nodded. He turned to just glare at Dark Magician before following Yami and the already collected friends of theirs back out the door that sealed closed behind them.  
  
~~  
  
Yami all but shoved Bakura and the others out the door when they arrived back in his and Yugi's room nearly half an hour later before turning back to Yugi with a concerned expression adorning his face.  
  
"What's wrong, Yami?" Yugi asked worriedly, hoping he hadn't done something offensive back in the Duel Monsters' room.  
  
The ruby-eyed Pharaoh just shook his head. "Nothing with me, Yugi, but what about you?"  
  
"You?" Yugi asked confused.  
  
"You looked like you were getting mad at Dark Magician for something. What did he say?"  
  
Suddenly it all seemed to click together for Yugi. "I see now, Yami. You didn't get us out of there because you were worried about what would happen up here, but you wanted to find out what I was talking to him about. Am I right?"  
  
Yami looked down at the marble floor, but nodded anyways.  
  
Amethyst eyes slipped shut and Yugi let out a small sigh. "I just got mad because he told me that me and the others, Ryou and Malik, don't belong in this era and we have to get back. I guess I just didn't want to hear it and my mind somehow made it seem like he was ordering me rather than suggesting that I should before something happens. Now that I've had time to think about what he said I know it's true and I've known all along that we'll have to go back sooner or later, but I just don't want to right now and I'm sure Ryou and Malik don't want to either."  
  
Yami smiled, glad and relieved to hear it was only that. Otherwise, he'd have to go have a little chat with Dark Magician about upsetting his lover. He smiled and wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist. "Don't worry about that right now, Yugi."  
  
The smaller boy nodded and wrapped his own arms around Yami's waist, closing his eyes and enjoying the spicy scent that was Yami. "I won't, Yami. I just want to be here with you."  
  
~~  
  
Later that evening, a few minutes before the sun was going to set, all six friends could be found in Yami's room. Yami was sitting on the bed discussing who knows what with Marik and Bakura. Ryou and Malik were engrossed in a confusing game that their yamis had taught them how to play and Yugi was watching as a referee since Yami had taught him how to play the game long ago and he'd mastered it; though he did promise that whoever won the round he would play against them.  
  
A few minutes later Malik was staring at the board thinking about the move Ryou had just made before he stood up hastily. "Wait a minute! You can't do that!"  
  
Ryou looked at what he just did and frowned. "Yes I can." He told Malik, confused as to what the other hikari was trying to get at. Surely, Yugi would have told him he couldn't make that move if he really couldn't.  
  
"No! It's illegal! Marik told me so!"  
  
"Yugi would've told me if I couldn't make it." The two boys turned to where Yugi had been sitting, watching their game in silence, but both were surprised to find that Yugi wasn't there anymore. Looking up when they heard the door close with a loud thump.  
  
The three yamis also stood when they heard the door closed. Ryou stood and went over to the door.  
  
Bakura glanced at the board and frowned. "Ryou, where are you going? You aren't done."  
  
Ryou looked out the door and gasped. "It's Yugi!" He told the others hurriedly. "Dark Magician looks like he's waiting for him at the end of the hall."  
  
The three yamis and Malik stood and looked out the hall. Yami noticed immediately that Yugi didn't know what he was doing. He growled when he realized that the mage had put him in a trance to get him to go where he wanted. They ran out the door to follow and were further surprised when Yugi was already down the stairs.  
  
They followed Yugi and the mage as fast as they could down the halls in many twists and turns before they came to a large door that closed loudly after Yugi had walked through it. When the others tried to open it however, it wouldn't budge and they could tell they'd been locked out.  
  
Yami looked further up the door to try and figure out a way to get in when he finally realized what part of the palace they were in. His eyes widened and he jumped at the door, clawing desperately at it as he called for Yugi.  
  
"Yami? What's wrong? What's on the other side?" Marik asked with concern.  
  
Yami, pale faced, turned around and in almost an inaudible whisper told them that Yugi was trapped inside the Duel room where all the monsters' powers were fully usable and anything could happen inside. He then went on to explain what the Dark Magician had told Yugi earlier that day when they went to visit the monsters.  
  
"You don't think that Dark Magician would force him to go back without letting him out of the trance, do you? Yugi would be so confused if he just woke up back in our own time and not knowing how he got there."  
  
"What if he does it to the both of us too?" Malik asked worriedly. He grabbed onto Marik's arm and held on tightly, afraid to let go.  
  
Ryou did the same to Bakura, hiding his face in the crook of his yami's neck.  
  
Yami watched them with saddened eyes before returning his attention to the door and pounding on it, yelling out for the mage to release Yugi. 


	16. My Name's Yami

Yugi blinked once and then again to focus his eyes on the unusually black room. The last thing he remembered was watching Ryou and Malik argue over the game they were playing. Looking around he realized he'd never been in this room before.  
  
Behind him he could barely hear the sound of somebody shouting for him and pounding on the door. He turned around to answer Yami's calling, but he stopped before he even got a word out and realized that somewhere a red light was brightening the room and in front of him, blocking the door and only exit as far as he could tell for the room, was the Dark Magician.  
  
He watched him with a curious look, knowing that the mage had made him come to the room somehow without him knowing since he was the only other being in the room. He was still upset with the Dark Magician for what he had said earlier to him.  
  
Dark Magician motioned to behind Yugi and amethyst eyes turned curiously to see what he was gesturing at. He blinked when he saw a chair fade into the room and he turned back to look at the mage.  
  
"I thought you'd like to be comfortable. I need to speak with you of something of importance."  
  
Yugi felt like growling but he held his tongue. "I already know what you're going to say. You want me to go back home."  
  
"There's no doubt in my mind that you know what I'm going to say, but there are several reason as to why you should go back."  
  
Yugi sighed and looked back at the door. If Yami couldn't get in then there wasn't a doubt in his mind that the mage had it locked. "You're not going to let me out until I agree with you, are you?"  
  
"I can't force you to agree, Yugi, just listen. But yes, I won't let you out nor Master Yami in until you listen to me at least."  
  
The teen sighed again and walked over to the chair, flopping down in it. He figured the faster he cooperated the faster he'd get let out. "Alright, I'm listening. What do you want to say that's so important you had to lock me up and make me hear what you need to say?"  
  
Dark Magician raised an eyebrow at Yugi's strange attitude, but he figured he'd had enough of people trying to tell him and the other hikaris to go back home. "Very well." He walked over to Yugi and sat down in another chair he faded into the room.  
  
"Since you already know what I'm basically going to tell you I won't start off by repeating that, but I do have something to ask you?"  
  
"Hmm?" Yugi asked, his voice laced with boredom.  
  
"Do you miss your grandfather and the friends you left behind?"  
  
Yugi's eyes widened and he glanced up at the Dark Magician; that definitely hit a nerve. He'd been here for months and every day it seemed like his conscience kept telling him he needed to make a decision soon. Every day the hurt and the pain for his friends that still believed him to be mad at them for what Seto had said continued to grow; the same went for his grandfather who must've been scared out of his mind with worry of what could've happened to him when it was discovered he wasn't there.  
  
"Yugi?" The mage questioned when the boy had been silent for a while.  
  
"I - I do." He whispered quietly, not wanting to admit that Dark Magician was right. "But that doesn't mean I want to go back to my time!" He finished quickly and more loudly than he'd wanted to. Lowering his voice once more he finished, "I love Yami too much to go back. I can't leave him again."  
  
"I know you love Master Yami with all your heart, Yugi, and it's obvious he knows this and feels the same for you. What about your grandfather though? Did it ever occur to you that he might believe you to be dead after missing for so many months?"  
  
Yugi tensed. The thought of that hadn't even come to him.  
  
Before Yugi could say anything however, the mage continued. "And what of your friends? Did you even think of how long you'd stay here when you had the chance to come here? And if you did stay for a while how would your grandfather find out where you were or that he'd even wait for you? He's bound to have gone back to your home long ago and your friends had to have found out when Ryou and Malik hadn't gone to see them yet." The mage reasoned.  
  
"But I'll be heartbroken if I have to leave Yami again and this time it's going to be for good." Yugi's eyes teared up and his voice choked as he said this.  
  
Knowing the boy would probably like some kind of comfort Dark Magician moved forward and knelt down so he could wrap his arms around Yugi. Yugi also wrapped his arms around the mage and waited for himself to calm down before letting go.  
  
"And what about Ryou and Malik. They'll be devastated to know we have to go back too."  
  
Dark Magician nodded in agreement. Though in his mind he was silently praising himself for finally being able to get through to Yugi. He still felt bad for making him hurt this badly about it though.  
  
"What am I supposed to do with the empty feeling that I get whenever Yami's not with me?"  
  
The mage smiled and hugged Yugi close to him once more. "Yugi, do really think that Yami isn't always with you? I know it hurts now and before it still hurt because it was such short notice when he had to leave, but did you even try to make it better. You stopped hanging out with your friends and pushed them away. Tell me, did you ever look at Ryou or Malik after your yamis left?"  
  
Realization dawned on Yugi and finally found out how stupid he'd been all this time; he nodded. "They weren't as hurting as I was because they had each other and our friends to talk to. They didn't feel like the world had come crashing down like I did and I only pushed them away when they tried to help."  
  
The mage nodded. "Now if you did go back do you think the friends would try to help you again?"  
  
Yugi shook his head.  
  
Confused, the mage asked Yugi why they wouldn't help him like they tried to last time.  
  
"Because they think I hate them." He mumbled into the magician's chest.  
  
"Do you think that makes them hate you and not care for you?"  
  
Thinking about this for a minute, Yugi shook his head. "I don't think so."  
  
"And with Ryou and Malik to be able to back you up to show them you don't hate them after all, do you think they'll be willing to give you a second chance?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"So, have you decided what you're going to do now?"  
  
Yugi pulled away from the magician and looked around the red dimmed room. He felt cold all of a sudden and wrapped his arms around himself. He could still hear Yami pounding and yelling at the door for him and briefly he thought he could hear the others calling out for him as well. Blocking them out he tried to think. Sadly, he nods. "You're right. I don't belong here and I do want to go back home. I love Yami so much but I do want to go back home. I miss everybody there and I just want to go home to my own time."  
  
The mage nodded and the door just then flew open, Yami and the others rushing in.  
  
Yami looked around and found Yugi, now sitting on the cold floor in utter darkness with the little light showing in behind with showing tears trekking down his face. He ran over and gathered his koi in his arms and kissed his face over and over again repeatedly asking in between kisses what happened to him.  
  
Instead of answering Yami's continuous question, Yugi looked at Ryou and Malik. "We need to go back." He choked out through his steadily flowing tears.  
  
The two hikaris look at Yugi in complete surprise and confusion. Nobody had been able to get Yugi to say those words willingly and now, here was, telling them they need to go back. Without having to be asked it to realize it though, they deeply missed their friends and their family back home and wanted to desperately see them again. Both reluctantly and sadly they nodded their agreement.  
  
Just then a portal appeared behind them and Yugi stood, wrapping his arms around Yami. "I'll miss you so much, Yami. I understand now that you'll never leave me no matter how far apart we are. You don't hate me for deciding this, do you?"  
  
"Of course not, Yugi. I think this is the bravest decision you've ever had to make. I'll love you forever and I'll never leave you're side. You'll always be in my heart and my mind."  
  
Yugi nodded. "And you mine, Yami." He pulled away and headed towards the portal where Ryou and Malik were waiting, having already said there goodbyes to their yamis as well. Tears already making their way down their cheeks, even Malik who usually hated crying in front of people.  
  
"Yugi." Yami called back.  
  
The amethyst-eyed teen turned around to look at Yami questioningly.  
  
The Pharaoh walked away and placed a kiss on Yugi's lips, putting all his love he felt towards Yugi into it. After pulling away he placed a gentler kiss on his cheek. "Know that I'll always love you no matter what. I don't want you to feel bounded to me though. When you step through that portal you'll be in a time where I don't with the living, which means you won't have a lover. I want you to find somebody so wonderful and loving who was meant just for you and I don't want you to feel like you're betraying me. Can you try that? For me?"  
  
Tears leaked out of Yugi's violet eyes, but he nodded. "I'll try, Yami, but no matter what part of my heart will always be for you only."  
  
Yami nodded. He then pulled the Millennium Puzzle off from around his neck and placed it around Yugi. "I don't need it anymore. Will you keep it safe for me, Yugi?"  
  
Yugi nodded once more and turned away, holding his hands out for Ryou and Malik. Together the three stepped through into the bright light, leaving their lovers behind in the past; to be a thing of the past.  
  
~~  
  
Yugi, Ryou, and Malik woke up from the familiar unconsciousness they awoke from the first time they went through the portal. One thing was definitely different though and they noticed it before they even opened their eyes.  
  
"Yugi, Malik?" Ryou called, a tad bit of worry heard in his voice. "We should've be laying on something soft, should we?"  
  
The three teens opened their eyes and gasped. They were laying on Yugi's bed back in Japan and smiles appeared on all of their faces.  
  
"The portal took us back home!" Malik laughed.  
  
"At least that saves us the worry of figuring out how to get back here from Egypt." Yugi half joked.  
  
Hearing the familiar bell of the game shop downstairs, they jumped off the bed and ran down the stairs, Yugi calling out eagerly for his grandpa.  
  
Reaching the game shop, Solomon Motou nearly had a heart attack when he saw his grandson and two best friends running down the stairs in the shop. "Yugi! How! Where!" Tears made their way down his aged face as he held Yugi and his friends in his arms. He believed they had been dead or hurt when he couldn't find them. The Egyptian officers told him to go home though after staying a month over the time he had planned on with a promise he'd have them sent home safely if they ever turned up.  
  
"I'm so sorry for everything, grandpa! I'm got so much to tell you!" Yugi told him excitedly, glad to finally be back home.  
  
~~  
  
Hours later everyone, including Joey, Seto, and Isis, were crowded in the Motou living room staring in awe at the three hikaris who had just told their tale. Yugi finished it off by saying, "So we stepped through the portal and here we are."  
  
"So you got to see Yami and the others again? That's pretty cool, Yug. I'm really happy for you."  
  
"Yeah, I'm going to miss him so much, but this time I'm not going to crawl into a shell and act like the world had come to an end. That is, if you're willing to forgive me and help me."  
  
"Ah, Yug, how could you ever believe we'd abandon you like that?" Joey joked around.  
  
It was a very exciting day and that night when Yugi went to bed, he was surprised that it didn't feel as bad leaving Yami and the other two yamis knowing that his friends were going to be with him this time.  
  
~~  
  
A few days later after school Yugi was walking down the halls, looking down at the ground wondering how he was ever going to make up all the stuff he missed while he was gone. He knew history wasn't going to be a problem since he'd already talked to his teacher and he'd said he'd give him a passing grade if he wrote a five page essay on his trip to Egypt, when he walked right into another person and they both fell to the ground.  
  
The other person laughs, a deep sounding laugh, and holds out his hands. "Sorry about that," he says. "I should've been paying attention to where I was going instead of looking at the map of this crazy school."  
  
Yugi takes the hands while he rubs his back where he fell on it with his other. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't paying attention either." Yugi finally looked up and gasped, losing his voice at the person he was looking at.  
  
"Yami!" A person called from down the hall and getting closer. Another teen with long white hair and sharp eyes running after the person who had called out.  
  
"I think I finally found the stairs we need to get out of this place." The person gasped out.  
  
The white-haired teen noticed Yugi before the other and a smirk spread over his face. "Whose this, Yami?"  
  
"Uh, I don't know. I just ran into him." He turned back to Yugi who was looking at them strangely. "Are you okay? You look a bit pale."  
  
"What? Oh, yeah; I'm fine, thanks. Um, I'm Yugi."  
  
"Nice to meet you. At least one person in this school is nice anyway. I'm Yamichi, but I like being called Yami. This is Bakurani," he gestured to the white-haired teen, "and Mariku," he pointed to the other, bleach-blonde teen.  
  
"Just call me Bakura."  
  
"And me Marik." Mariku interrupted.  
  
"Okay. Would you mind if I asked you why you don't like you're given names?" Yugi asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, sure. See our favorite subject in our old school was World History because our teacher made it really fun. When we got to Ancient Egyptian times he liked to joke around with us because we have these strange resemblances to three important people from back then and our names almost matched them too. It was Pharaoh named Yami, me, a retired tomb-robber who turned out to be good friends with the Pharaoh, Bakura, that's him," he pointed to the white-haired teen.  
  
"And then a tomb watcher who got a hired position and was also really good friends with the Pharaoh and tomb-robber, Marik, which is me."  
  
"Anyways," Bakura continued, "our teacher started calling us by those names and we ended up getting attached."  
  
"That's really cool." Yugi told them, amazed that he'd never heard anything about his lover in his history books before.  
  
"So, Yugi, you know this school pretty well?" Yami asked.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"Cool, can you help out of here? We're so lost." He blushed in embarrassment for having to admit.  
  
Yugi laughed and nodded. "Sure, it takes a while to get used to the place." It was then that Yugi noticed that they hadn't gawked at him for looking almost exactly like Yami, the Pharaoh Yami nor the Yami he was now walking beside. He decided to leave. "If you guys want, I can introduce you to my friends tomorrow. I'm sure they'd love to meet you."  
  
"We'd like that a lot, Yugi. They've got to be someone if they hang out with someone as cute as you." Yami joked.  
  
Yugi blushed but laughed along with them. 'Nope, this won't be all that bad at all.' 


	17. Notice

Hello, everybody. I've already received some reviews about continuing this fic. The truth is, I don't really know what to do next and that was going to be the last chapter. However, if someone(s) could give me a few ideas or something to go off of, I'd be happy to keep continuing you. Thanks for your reviews!  
  
Reeni 


	18. Stalker?

Yugi and the rest of the gang turned out to be great friends with Yami, Bakura, and Marik. Ryou and Malik were the most excited about meeting Bakura and Marik too, just like Yugi knew they would. The one thing that freaked Yugi out the most though was the fact that he could fall in love with Yami present time since he and the Yami of the past were so similar in so many ways. Just by looking at Ryou and Malik proved that they felt the same. He would've been able to figure out that out even without them having talking to him about it earlier - a couple days after he introduced the three to the rest of the gang.  
  
Right now though Yugi was trying desperately not to stare at Yami as they were waiting in line for movie tickets. Ryou and Malik were inside getting the snacks with Bakura and Marik. Yami was trying to make small talk with him, but he seemed to be losing his voice every time he was around Yami now, and there was no doubt in his mind that Yami was starting to notice it and get curious about it too.  
  
"Yugi?" Yami called for the fifth time in two minutes.  
  
Yugi started for a second before looking at Yami questioningly.  
  
"Are you okay? Did I do something wrong because lately it seems like you don't want to talk to me or something?" He asked.  
  
Yugi tensed up before shaking his head, hoping Yami didn't notice his reaction to his question. 'What did I say? I knew I should've acted better around him inside of being afraid to get close to him. Yami did say to not worry about him and that he no longer exists in my time, but reincarnations definitely could.' Yugi thought to himself. He figured Yami was getting sick of just him looking at him though, so he decided to answer the question instead of just shaking his head. "Of course not, Yami; why would anything be wrong? I've just had a lot on my mind lately."  
  
"Oh. So.why do you think I'll like this movie so much?" Yami asked him.  
  
Yugi smiled and was about to reply, "Because you loved it before when you were the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle," but he realized that he would look like a freak so he racked his brain to think of something that would make sense. Suddenly he remembered what Yami had told him a few days ago. "Well, because you told me a while ago that you liked action/adventure with a little bit of romance in it and I've read the reviews for this movie and it sounded perfect."  
  
Yami nodded and stepped up to the ticket booth when the person in front of him left and paid for his ticket. Yugi then stepped up paid for his ticket, using the money that his friends had given him to get their tickets as well.  
  
"Let's go see if they've gotten the snacks yet." Yami suggested as he held the door open for Yugi. Yugi nodded and stepped in.  
  
It took only a minute to find them in front of the door for their movie, waving them over. They walked over to them and exchanged the tickets and food before walking in. They found some good seats in the middle row while the advertisements were playing and quickly made their way over before a group on the other side of the room to get them. Bakura sat on the end with Ryou next to him, Malik sat next to him, Marik beside Malik, Yami next to him, and then Yugi next to Yami.  
  
The movie started shortly after they got situated and they quieted down to watch, munching on popcorn and sipping their drinks.  
  
When the part came to when the two lovers in the movie met up secretly to arrange their plans to run away together since their parents disapproved of each other, Yugi unconsciously snuggled up to Yami and sighed, remembering that he did the same thing when he first watched the movie with the spirit Yami.  
  
Yami glanced at Yugi, slightly confused, but ignored it when Yugi sat up quickly and apologized. He shook his head and turned back to the movie.  
  
Towards the middle of the movie though Yugi was trying to force himself to stay in his seat. The two families were looking for their children and were fighting each other, somehow thinking that yelling until their throats were sore would bring their children back. The daughter of the lower class family couldn't take the screaming and finally showed herself from where she hid with her lover, the boy from the rich family. Unfortunately, the hiding place was on a high building and she was calling down to them to stop fighting, hot tears streaming down her face. A large wind picked up and through the girl off the building. The boy screamed and jumped after her. The part that made Yugi jump from his seat and start sobbing into Yami's jacket was when the director went through all the trouble of actually showing what the lovers looked like when they fell to the ground.  
  
"Yugi, are you okay?" Yami asked, wrapping his arms comfortingly around the shorter teen.  
  
"Yami?" Yugi looked up and his eyes widened in shock and realization. This wasn't his Yami. This was the reincarnation of his Yami. The Yami he was thinking of when he jumped into his arms was the Yami who loved him back and knew the perfect thing to say at the right time. "I - Oh Gosh, Yami! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to - I just," Yugi jumped from Yami's lap and ran from the theatre.  
  
Ryou and Malik exchanged glances before they started running after Yugi, Bakura and Marik close on their heels. Yami sat back in the theatre in complete shock.  
  
'Why did Yugi look so terrified? That couldn't have just been for the movie that he was crying? And why would he apologize for being scared?' The questions ran through Yami's head until the lights turned on and he realized that he was still sitting in the theatre while the others were probably comforting Yugi and finding out what was wrong by now. He jumped from his seat and shoved his way out of the theatre and ran down the street towards the game shop, hoping that Yugi had run there instead of the opposite direction.  
  
He was gasping for breath when he reached the shop and was surprised when he saw Ryou and Malik knocking at the doors.  
  
"Where're Bakura and Marik?" He asked.  
  
"They went around to the back door in case Yugi tried getting out that way. He's really upset, Yami, and he won't let us in." Ryou explained sadly.  
  
Malik cried out in frustration and suck to his knees, his pounding on the door ceasing to small knocks.  
  
Yami looked around and saw a tree leading over to a window. "Is that window Yugi's room?" He asked, pointing.  
  
Malik turned to look and nodded slowly. "Yeah."  
  
Before Malik could finish his sentence Yami ran to the tree and started to climb up it. He reached the window and had to balance on a shaky limb before he could knock at the window.  
  
Yugi looked up from where he sat in the corner of his bedroom. Had he heard wrong or was there somebody knocking at his window? He wiped his eyes and stretched his neck up to see, his eyes widening at what he saw.  
  
He stood on shaky legs and walked over to his window, unlatching it and stepping back so Yami could get in.  
  
The least expected thing happened. Yami pulled him over after getting in the bedroom and pulled him into a hug. "Yugi, what's wrong with you? You had us all worried." He explained to the shorter teen. "I wasn't mad at you just because you jumped into my lap. There has to be more than what it seems and I'm guessing that Ryou and Malik know it too. Tell me, Yugi, you can trust me."  
  
Yugi nodded and stepped back, wiping the tears from his eyes once more. He went on to explain that he had a lover once, not telling who or what gender in case Yami was disgusted by that sort of thing, and explained that he had seen that movie before with them and got scared by the same parts. Not long after they'd seen the movie they saw an accident occur on the way home and it turned out that the two teens that were involved in the crash and died had also been lovers. He'd got spooked by it and he hadn't been able to get over it.  
  
"Oh, Yugi." Yami pulled Yugi back into his arms. "We're friends, Yugi, and we're supposed to look out for each other. I wouldn't be upset with you just because you got scared."  
  
Yugi nodded and went to sit on the bed. "I'm sorry I acted that way. I seem so childish now."  
  
"Don't worry about it." He headed for the door. "I'm going to go let the others in. I'm sure they're tired of pounding on the door if Malik is anything to go by." He chuckled a little before leaving.  
  
Minutes later all six friends were crowded in Yugi's bedroom playing a board game and deciding to ignore the strange occurrence that had happened only half an hour before.  
  
The game was one they had created on their own before they had met Yami, Bakura, or Marik. It didn't really have an object to it, just for laughs and basically hanging out. You went into partners and one couple asked another a question and if they got it right they got a point.  
  
It was Bakura and Ryou's turn to draw a card and ask a couple. They looked at the question and simultaneously agreed that it would be Yugi and Yami's question since they had asked Malik and Marik before.  
  
"Yami, what's Yugi's favorite color?"  
  
Yami looked over at Yugi and then around the bedroom for any sort of clue before realizing that it was useless. There were all sorts of colors in Yugi's bedroom. Finally he shrugged and said blue.  
  
Yugi smirked, but nodded anyways.  
  
The older teen sighed in relief that he hadn't gotten something completely off.  
  
"Okay, Yugi," Ryou started, "This might be a bit hard. What's Yami's favorite pastime to do?"  
  
Yugi looked at the floor and didn't notice the small blush that had appeared on Yami's face. Finally Yugi decided to just guess with stuff he knew about the spirit Yami. "Having long bubble baths while listening to soft music?"  
  
Yami's jaw dropped and the blush spread over his cheeks. "T-that's right. How did you know that?"  
  
Yugi's eyes widened and he stared at Yami in disbelief. He knew that his Yami and this Yami were similar, but now it was starting to get ridiculous. Luckily, Ryou decided to save him.  
  
"I think we should play a different game now. How bout Monopoly?" He suggested.  
  
Everyone except Yugi agreed. He went downstairs to the kitchen and poured himself a cold glass of water, downing it in one gulp. He nearly choked on it though when he heard Yami call his name from behind him.  
  
"Yugi, I don't know how you know what my favorite pastime is and all that; I mean, even Marik and Bakura didn't know that and they'd be the first people I would tell, but this is just getting weird. You know a lot of stuff about me and I don't about you."  
  
"Listen, Yami that was just a guess. Remember my lover I used to have? Their favorite pastime was sitting in a warm bubble bath and listening to soft music too so I just said that because I couldn't think of anything better."  
  
"And what's with you calling your lover them and they and all that. Doesn't she have a name or don't you want me to meet them?"  
  
At this point Ryou and everybody else who'd been waiting upstairs was watching the two's conversation from the foot of the stairs. Ryou and Malik didn't like where it was going and Bakura and Marik were just curious as to why the two were fighting when they usually got along very well.  
  
"Because you just wouldn't understand it!" Yugi shouted angrily, turning his back to Yami and blinking the tears out of his eyes. He wouldn't cry, he couldn't. Ryou and Malik didn't cry for their lovers so he shouldn't cry for his. It was over and that's that.  
  
"How wouldn't I understand? Did she move away or dump you? It can't be as bad as you're making it seem!" Yami shouted back.  
  
Just when it had come to shouting, the two didn't know. They weren't even sure why they were arguing in the first place. It had just been a simple statement after all and now they were on about who Yugi's lover was and why he was talking about them the way he was.  
  
"You don't get it, do you? I never had a she, Yami!"  
  
Yami fell silent and Ryou and Malik gasped to themselves. Before they realized it or could stop him, Yugi had practically ripped his pocket apart pulling his wallet out and he opened it to the first picture, thrusting it into Yami's hands. By then the two hikaris on the stairs got out of the shock and had just seen what Yugi had done.  
  
"Yugi, wait!"  
  
"Don't, Yugi!"  
  
Curious and also suspicious as to how they were acting about a simple picture, Yami brought to picture into his sight and looked at it for a second before his eyes widened. For some reason he couldn't pull his eyes away from the people in it. For a minute Yami just had this surprised look on his face before something like disgust and realization dawned on his face. His crimson eyes turned to Yugi with repulsion and hurt in them. "Yugi, there's something wrong with you." He whispered, his voice seeming unable to get any louder.  
  
Yugi took a step back and looked at Yami with confusing before his eyes turned to the ground where his picture of him and his Yami were sitting on a bench at school; Yugi with his arms and Yami's neck and was kissing him on the cheek and winking at the camera at the same time.  
  
"I've had lots of admirers, Yugi, but this is wrong."  
  
"What is?" Yugi asked confused. He was talking about his Yami, didn't this Yami get that?  
  
Ryou turned to look at Bakura when he was tapped on the shoulder.  
  
"Did you know Yugi was like that?" He asked.  
  
Ryou glanced at Malik for a second before looking back at Bakura. "Like what?"  
  
"Like what?" Marik asked in disbelief. "A stalker for crying out loud!" He whispered back.  
  
Ryou and Malik's eyes widened in shock, now they understood it. The pharaoh Yami and present-time Yami looked exactly alike. Why would anyone who saw a picture of one not think it to be the same person they were thinking about rather than another?  
  
"Marik, Bakura, let's leave." Yami called to them when he noticed them waiting on the stairs. "You two can join us if you want." He added to Ryou and Malik, backing away from Yugi without turned his back.  
  
"I don't understand what you mean though!" Yugi called back when they were at the door. Obviously, he still didn't get what they were trying to say.  
  
"Stalking, Yugi. I never in my life ever had a stalker, only admirers. I thought you were my friend, Yugi. Now it makes sense how you know so much about me. Especially my favorite pastime, which my best friends didn't even know. And throwing yourself at me in the movie theatre. You never had a lover," he accused, "you were just saying that as an excuse." He threw his hands up in frustration. "I guess you shouldn't always look at first impressions when you meet someone new." Yami whispered just loudly enough for Yugi to hear, sadness laced in his voice before he closed the front door behind him.  
  
Glancing at the stairs, Yugi felt an unbelievable amount of sadness and betrayal when he saw that Ryou and Malik were no longer there and they had obviously gone with Yami and the others. 


	19. Explanations

'A stalker," Yugi thought miserably as he lay limply on his bed. 'How, of all things, could Yami think of me as a stalker?'  
  
The amethyst-eyed teen had been there on his bed with the same thoughts repeating in his mind silently ever since he forced himself to climb up the stairs after Yami and his friends had left.  
  
'Why'd they leave me like that? Ryou? Malik? Why did you go when you said you were my friends? You took that picture of me when our yamis were still with us so how could you agree with them. I bet they're laughing at me right now." He thought with despair, closing his eyes.  
  
~~  
  
Yami sat around the table laughing with the rest of his friends. He looked at Ryou and Malik and smirked. "You two were just feigning dumb right? When Bakura asked you if you knew Yugi was a stalker?"  
  
Ryou and Malik nodded with smirks of their own adorning their own faces. "Of course we were," Ryou laughed.  
  
"Did you really expect us to be so naïve? We only acted like that so Yugi would trust us. You were also right, Yami. He never had a lover; he made up that story so people would feel sorry for him." Malik explained.  
  
"We've heard so many times before it was starting to get unbearable for us. Thank the gods you said something first though before we exploded on him. I might've actually felt a little guilty for telling the guy we lied to him all this time about being his friends." Ryou told them before the group erupted into laughter once more.  
  
~~  
  
Yugi sat up in bed rubbing his eyes frantically, trying to force himself not to remember what he saw.  
  
"Calm down, Yugi, it was only a dream." He told himself, panting for air. "It doesn't mean anything at all." He rubbed his once more before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and going downstairs. "All I need is food and something cold to drink, maybe a movie and I'll be as good as new."  
  
Passing his dresser he glanced at the picture that lay on it. It was another of the pictures his friends had taken and Ryou, Bakura, and their yamis were in it too. Feeling tears come to his eyes he picked up the frame and carried it with him downstairs as he stared at it.  
  
'I wish Yami were here right now. At least then I might know what I could do to make things right."  
  
~~  
  
Ryou and Malik followed close behind Yami as they walked beside Bakura and Marik silently. They glanced at each other for a second before Malik sighed deeply and sped up until he was standing in front of Yami with his arms outstretched.  
  
"This is wrong, Yami and you know. Yugi's too innocent to be a stalker and he wasn't lying about having a lover. We all had one, Yugi, Ryou and I, but we lost them. Besides, Ryou and me didn't come with you because we believed you. We came with you to try to convince you he wasn't a stalker. It's a long story and we doubt you'd even believe us if we told you."  
  
Yami glanced back at Ryou and sighed when he saw the white-haired teen nod back him, confirming what Malik was saying.  
  
"Very well then," Yami said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Tell us your story and we'll decide whether we believe you or not."  
  
Malik sighed in relief and motioned for them to follow him. He led them to the park where they could sit down and be comfortable, glad that nobody was around to overhear. He started by telling the three of the Millennium Items and that each one had a special power. "The three of us had items that were destined to be ours. Mine was the Rod, Ryou's the Ring, and Yugi's the Puzzle." He went on to explain about the spirits that were resided in their items and what had happened to them after they'd had the strange dreams that told them the yamis had to leave for their own lives' sakes. At the end it was so silent you would be able to hear a pin drop.  
  
Finally, Bakura was the first to say something. "I see now how you found it hard for us to believe you. The story was a bit farfetched for some people, but I believe you. I trust my friends and even though I've known you just short of a couple months I can tell you're telling the truth."  
  
Ryou smiled and looked at Marik and Yami.  
  
Marik smirked. "It does explain a few things though. Like how Yugi knew about Yami and wasn't exactly very surprised to see we looked alike in so many ways. Also how Yugi seemed so comfortable when he jumped into Yami's lap earlier too."  
  
Malik smiled at him and the four of them waited for Yami to say something.  
  
The crimson-eyed teen stood from his spot on the bench and glared at the four of them. "You're all ridiculous beyond imagining!" He spat. "That is the most ludicrous excuse for a stalker I've ever heard. I wouldn't be surprised that you two are stalkers as well. I don't know about you two," he snarled at Marik and Bakura, "but I'm leaving. You two can hang around these weirdos all you like, but don't expect me to join you at any time!" He turned on his heel and all but marched away from them in his anger.  
  
Malik sighed in irritation and headed back the way they first came. "I'm going back to Yugi's house. I'm sure he'll like an explanation about why we ditched him at such a time."  
  
Ryou nodded and quickly followed after him, hooking his arm around Malik's and holding on tightly. "Malik," he whispered so Bakura and Marik, who were following them, wouldn't hear. "Now that they know the story, what'll happen now? They know who they represent to us so won't they be uncomfortable or something around us now knowing that we used to be lovers with people who looked exactly like them and have many if not all of the same traits they do?"  
  
Malik shook his head. "I honestly don't know, Ryou. It's really up to them to decide what to do now."  
  
Ryou nodded and released Malik's arm.  
  
~~  
  
Yugi glanced up when he heard the doorbell. He stood from the couch and put his coke on the table to answer it. Opening the door he gasped. "Ryou, Malik? You left though.you left and I thought you'd never come back." Yugi told them, tears coming to eyes.  
  
"Oh, Yugi, you're our best friend. We know you'd never do something as terrible as stalking somebody." Malik laughed, opening his arms to give the smaller teen a hug.  
  
Yugi threw himself into Malik's arm and held on tightly. He felt somebody take his hand from behind Malik and he looked up to see Ryou smiling at him warmly, holding his smaller hand in his; he smiled back. "Thanks, you guys." He pulled back and gestured for his fellow hikaris to come in, but he stopped when he saw who was right behind them. "Marik? Bakura?"  
  
"Hey, Yugi." Marik smirked.  
  
"Sorry about what we said before, about you being a stalker and all. Malik and Ryou explained everything to us." Bakura added  
  
Yugi paled and his eyes widened. "You know? Everything?"  
  
Marik and Bakura both nodded.  
  
"Sorry, Yugi. We know it was important to you that they didn't know because you didn't want them to think we were crazy and all, but it was the only way to show them we believed you and trusted you."  
  
Yami's eyes suddenly glittered to life. "Yami came back with you, didn't he? He believed you just like Marik and Bakura did, didn't he?" He asked, hope flaring in his eyes.  
  
Malik and Ryou shared a small look at each other before their gazes turned to the ground; Ryou shook his head. "He thought the whole thing was a complete phony, Yugi. He didn't believe a single word we said and he left before he practically shouted out that Bakura and Marik weren't his friends if they believed such nonsense."  
  
Yugi's eager smile immediately vanished with all traces of it ever being there. "Oh, I see." He said, a little too calmly for everyone else's liking. "Come on in, then. There's some pizza left over from last night if you want some and there's some drinks in the fridge too. I was just about to watch a movie if you wanted to stay." He told them before he turned and went back to the living room, not caring about whether his friends followed him or left or even if the door stayed open for the cold evening breeze to blow in.  
  
The four entered the house and closed the door behind them. They walked into the living room and felt terrible for their small friend when they saw him, curled up on the couch with his knees up to his chest and his face hiding in a small pillow.  
  
Bakura walked over to him and sat beside him, Marik followed. He wrapped his arms around the small teen and held him tightly. "Don't worry about him, Yugi. Yami is just being stubborn because he doesn't want to believe something so out there is really true. He's always been like that. Ever since his dad left him and his mother all because he had a big imagination years ago. Now he won't let anything as colorful as that invade his mind."  
  
"Sometimes I bet he tries to convince himself that if he continues to act how his father wanted him to that he'll come back someday, even though in his heart he knows his father is never going to come back."  
  
Yugi removed his tearstained face from the pillow and nodded. "I know. I've seen it happen. He was doodling on his homework once in history and I saw it; it was really good. When I asked him about why he wasn't in art he got all defensive and ripped the picture off and tore it into small pieces before throwing it away."  
  
"That's him alright. He really does want to use his imagination, but he won't let himself."  
  
Ryou frowned before a sudden thought hit him. He grabbed Malik's arm and whispered something in his ear before Malik pulled abruptly away from him.  
  
"You don't really think that, do you?"  
  
Ryou frowned, but nodded. "He could've, Malik. The two aren't that different. It's just like I told you last night about what I was feeling for Bakura lately and you admitted you were feeling something for Marik too." He whispered.  
  
"Yugi, let's go get you cleaned up in the bathroom. Then we'll all sit down and watch a movie together." Malik called.  
  
Yugi nodded and slowly got up from the couch and away from the arm embrace of Bakura and Marik's arms. He followed his two friends into the bathroom and sat on the counter in silence.  
  
As Malik was wetting a washrag that he found hanging on one of the walls beside the showed Ryou was hugging Yugi, helping the younger teen to calm down.  
  
"Yugi," Malik said as he gently wiped Yugi's face clean with the rag, "you're in love with him, aren't you?"  
  
Yugi gasped and pulled away from Malik's reach. "I-I.No, of course I'm not. My heart will always be for my Yami, not some cheat incarnation of him." Yugi lied miserably.  
  
Malik was about to argue back, but Ryou stopped him and started speaking instead. "Yugi, Malik and I had a little talk early, very early this morning. I just had a nightmare about my Bakura and got shaken up so I called Malik since he's usually up still at two in the morning. We both ended up admitting that we were feeling something for this time's Bakura and Marik. You don't need to feel bad or anything if you feel the same or more towards this time's Yami. We are soul mates with them after all."  
  
Tears shone in Yugi's eyes once more and he launched himself into Ryou's chest. "I do, Ryou. I am in love with him. And I've ruined everything!"  
  
"Shh." Ryou hushed. "Nothing's been ruined, Yugi. You heard Marik and Bakura back in the other room. Yami's just going to take a little time. How bout tomorrow at school you go look for him, we'll all help. You can sit down with him and talk all you want him and we'll join you if you want. We'll make him see that's it's okay to think outside the box sometimes and nothing bad will come of it."  
  
"What if it's not just that though? What if it's me?" Yugi asked, his voice shaking with slight fear.  
  
"Yugi, don't you ever think that!" Malik scolded.  
  
Yugi whimpered and his face in Ryou's shirt. "What else am I supposed to think?" He muttered.  
  
"You're supposed to think about how your Yami would feel if he ever heard you say such a terrible thing and then what he would say to make you feel better. So, Yugi, what would he do?"  
  
"H-he would hold me and k-kiss me h-here," he pointed to his cheek.  
  
As he way saying this, Bakura and Marik slowly walked in and listened to the exchange, amazed at such a reaction from somebody who only knew Yami for a short while.  
  
Ryou and Malik both shared smiled before they leaned down and kissed Yugi softly on his cheek,  
  
"Hmm, go on, Yugi. Anything else he would do to make you feel better?" Malik prompted.  
  
A small smile appeared on Yugi's face and he nodded. He pointed to his, "Then he would kiss me here."  
  
Ryou leant down and kissed his nose.  
  
"Then he would hold me really tight in his arms."  
  
Malik moved closer and took Yugi from Ryou's arms and held him closely to his chest.  
  
Yugi's eyes closed in content and he let out a small sigh. "Then he would tell me he loved me and he would rock me to sleep in front of the fire or while we watched a movie." He whispered quietly.  
  
Ryou turned and was about to head out to start the movie Yugi was going to watch, but stopped when he saw Bakura and Marik standing in the doorway watching Yugi. He relaxed though when he saw small smiles as they watched the teen cuddled in Malik's arms. "Would you two go start the movie for us. We'll be out in a minute."  
  
They nodded and turned to do as they were asked.  
  
When Ryou returned to Malik's side, his best friend was just finishing telling Yugi how much Yami must've loved him. Malik turned to Ryou and the white-haired hikari nodded.  
  
The two walked slowly out into the living room where Bakura was fast- forwarding through the advertisements. Malik sat down slowly on the couch and smirked lightly when he felt Yugi cuddled closer to him and sighed in his contentment.  
  
"Go to sleep, Yugi," Ryou whispered to him, brushing his bangs back from his face. "Go visit your Yami in your dreams." He whispered to his tri- colored hair friend.  
  
"Yami." Yugi sighed lovingly.  
  
The four smiled happily at him as they got comfortable on the couch and watched the movie while their fifth member went into dream land. 


	20. My Watcher

PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR THE STORIES PLACED AT THE VERY END OF THE FIC!! THANK YOU!!!  
  
Yami ignored the group every time they tried to get him to talk to them again. Even Marik and Bakura were starting to get worried about it since Yami had never acted like that towards them and they seemed to think that he was really taking such a thing as the explanation they were told from Ryou and Malik in the park extremely hard. Yugi was also, once more, getting upset by Yami's behavior.  
  
Finally, Yugi couldn't take it one day at lunch, after seeing Yami walk away from Bakura and Marik for what seemed like the hundredth time in the week. He ran away from his friends and past Bakura and Marik, who stared after him in confusion, and only stopped right in front of Yami.  
  
Yami didn't even look up when he felt the shadow of Yugi overcast him from the sun. In fact, he ignored him for a good five minutes before Yugi finally tore the book he was reading from his hands and dropped in on the ground, all the while glaring at the crimson-eyed teen. He sighed and looked up to Yugi with impatience glaring back at the smaller teen.  
  
"We need to talk, Yami. You can't enjoy being by yourself everyday, can you?" Yugi argued, trying to knock some sense into his friend.  
  
Red eyes closed in irritation and Yami turned his head from Yugi's. "I like my privacy." He stated simply.  
  
"This isn't privacy, Yami." Yugi felt like shouting, but instead said it almost calmly, his voice wavering in the slightest. "This is called letting your father get the better of you and not letting you be who you want to be."  
  
Yami stood up so suddenly Yugi nearly fell on the ground.  
  
"How do you even know about my father? If you want to prove yourself innocent of not being a stalker then you shouldn't say stuff you shouldn't know about. Unless you don't really care that your reputation is getting lower than the sewers, than I suppose that's just fine, but find somebody else to stalk because I don't like it."  
  
"I'm not a stalker, Yami!" Yugi finally shouted. "Bakura and Marik told me about your father and what is a good bet to them what goes through your head everyday because of it. Don't let your father control you!"  
  
Yami looked around the area and noticed people staring at them because of Yugi's shouts. He turned and grabbed his bag, storming away from the violet- eyed boy in just seconds. He stalled a few feet away though. "What I do is my own business, Yugi, and I can think whatever I want. You may not care that your parents left you on your grandfather's doorstep, but I do care that my father left me because of my love for art and imagination."  
  
Yugi felt tears coming to his eyes and he didn't bother trying to go after Yami when he started walking away once more, nor did he ever notice when Yami turned to him with sad eyes and watched him for a short while before continuing to walk way.  
  
~~  
  
That afternoon Yugi was laying on his bed thinking about what Yami had said to him earlier that day about his parents abandoning him. He vigorously wiped his eyes clean from the tears that started to shine in his eyes.  
  
'Stupid Yami. How could I ever fall in love with a jerk like that!' He scolded himself. He turned over in his bed and stared out the window for a minute, seeing two birds twirling around each other before flying off. More tears appeared in his eyes and this time he didn't bother to wipe them away. Yugi turned towards the door when he heard a knock round on it.  
  
His grandfather entered and gave him a small smile. "Your friends are here, Yugi. They said they were worried about you after lunch. Did something happen? And where's Yami, I haven't seen him for a while."  
  
"Grandpa," Yugi whispered, his voice tight from holding back his tears, "did my parents really leave me on your doorstep when I was smaller?"  
  
Solomon's eyes widened in surprise and he hurried over to his grandson's side, sitting down and holding him tightly. "Oh, Yugi, did somebody say that to you today?"  
  
Yugi nodded, but decided not to say who.  
  
"No, Yugi, your parents loved you. They would never do such a thing to you." Solomon explained.  
  
"Then why aren't I with them if they're still alive?"  
  
"They. aren't alive, Yugi. They died a long time ago. Your parents couldn't reach me, but they had no choice but to leave you here while they went on an important business trip they couldn't bring you on. On the way their though their plane crashed and that's when I gained complete custody over you."  
  
Tears leaked down pale cheeks as Yugi hid his face in his grandpa's shirt, arms wrapping around him tightly in comfort.  
  
"Yugi?" Ryou peeked around the door, not wanting to interrupt anything. "We just heard, Yugi." The white-haired teen said. Marik, Malik, and Bakura all came into view as well, worry for their friend all visible in their eyes.  
  
"Can we just not talk about this right now?" Yugi asked, wiping his face with the sleeve of his jacket.  
  
All three nodded and motioned for Yugi to follow them.  
  
"There's that fair that just opened up last week a little ways from our school. Joey and the others are going to meet us there and we'll spend the whole night away there until they kick us out," Malik joked, trying to make Yugi feel better. "We thought it might cheer you up a bit since you looked so glum after lunch. Did Yami really say that to you?"  
  
"Yes, he accused me of being a stalker again because I knew about his father and he hadn't told me himself. I explained that you two had told me," he nodded at Bakura and Marik, "but then he just said that and walked off. I bet he didn't even care that he hurt my feelings either."  
  
"Nobody wouldn't get hurt by such a cruel remark, Yugi. Now come on, or Joey will get bored of waiting and go in and spend all his money on junk food. Then we'll never hear the end of it."  
  
Yugi nodded and they ran off down the street together.  
  
When they arrived though they were surprised to see Joey was talking to none other than Yami.  
  
"What are you doing here, Yami. I didn't think you liked these sort of things." Bakura asked curiously.  
  
Yami visibly tensed and glanced over at Yugi for a moment before turning his crimson eyes to Bakura. "When then you thought wrong didn't you, Bakura. I can be here if I want."  
  
Joey and the rest of the gang with him, Seto, Tristan, Serenity, and Duke, all looked surprised when Yami said this, but didn't say anything until after he left.  
  
"That's weird. We just asked him if he was here with anybody and he told us that he was waiting for you guys and that he had something to tell ya." Joey told them, a confused look on his face. He shrugged his shoulders and turned towards the ticket booth with a large smile. "Oh well, let's get some rides in! I want to go at least a hundred times each tonight!" He shouted excitedly before running towards the booth, nearly trampling an old lady and a small child on the way.  
  
Yugi glanced around and was surprised when he suddenly saw Yami staring at him from behind a corner of a tent before he noticed he'd been seen and jumped out of his sight. 'That's weird." Yugi thought, deciding not to mention it the others in case they wanted to do something to him for what he had said about his parents; he didn't want any trouble.  
  
Yugi finally had to call it quits on the beginning of the group's third round of rides. He needed to get something in his stomach so he told the group to go ahead with the ride and he'd wait for them at the exit. That wasn't the case however, when Yami grabbed his arm and pulled him out of view of the rest of the public.  
  
The amethyst-eyed teen got defensive though since he didn't feel like talking to Yugi after what he'd said to him at lunch. He crossed his arms and glared at the slightly older teen.  
  
"We need to talk, Yugi." Yami said, obviously doing his best not to be worried about Yugi's attitude. "About what I said at lunch, I wanted to apologize."  
  
"Yami, I'm sorry, but there isn't anything you could really say right now to make it better. I just want to be alone with my friends."  
  
"Aren't I your friend too?" Yami asked, surprised.  
  
"You've made it perfectly clear to me that you don't want a.what was it, Yami? Oh yes, a stalker as a friend."  
  
Yami visibly flinched at Yugi's harsh tone and took a step away from the shorter teen. "Please, Yugi, I didn't mean it like that. I've had some time to think and I know I've been a jerk. I'm sorry for what I said and if you'd only looked up after I said that you wouldn't have seen me looking back at you too. I regretted it the second it left my mouth."  
  
Yugi smiled and looked back at the ride that was just beginning to slow down. "I'll forgive on one condition, Yami."  
  
"What's that?" Yami asked, surprised.  
  
"You have to go on the rides with us."  
  
Yami smiled and even laughed along with Yugi. "I'm pretty sure I can do that for you."  
  
"And Yami?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I know it isn't the best time to be asking this or anything, but do you really think your father is going to come back after all this time?"  
  
Yami sighed and looked over towards the lights of the Ferris Wheel. "No, Yugi, I don't. I've known all along that he wouldn't come back, but I just wanted to make myself believe. I finally decided to let it go past me just a short while ago; that's why I decided to come here and I've been waiting for a minute when you were alone so I could talk to you privately. I found out you were coming because I overheard Marik and Ryou talking to Joey and the others about it."  
  
"Yugi!" Joey's voice hollered. "Where are you, buddy?"  
  
Yugi looked up and smiled at Yami. "We should go then. Bakura and Marik have also been somewhat upset about your attitude towards them since this whole dumb argument started. They'll be glad to know."  
  
"Actually, Yugi," Yami's voice stopped Yugi midstep as he was going around the tent, "I wanted to keep that part about my dad just between us for right now. I know they worry over me about it, especially when I get broody about it, but I don't want them to know just yet."  
  
"Okay, Yami. I can understand that. There are some things that I'll tell Ryou or someone and don't want anyone else to know either. Like what happened when we got transported back to Ancient Egypt we all quietly agreed not to say anything to the others."  
  
Yami nodded and followed Yugi out to meet the others.  
  
~~  
  
That night Yami walked Yugi home, talking about different things and sometimes Yami asking Yugi different questions about what his previous self had been like and what it was like in ancient Egypt.  
  
Yugi didn't really want to say goodnight when he arrived at the game shop, but he eventually did. He was most surprised though when Yami grabbed his arm after he had turned around and placed a small kiss to his lips before he smiled and ran off down the street.  
  
A small smile broke out on the amethyst-eyed teen's face before he turned and walked into the game shop.  
  
Solomon was putting a few things away at the time and when he turned to greet his grandson he was glad to see a smile on his face again. "That fair must've done you some good, Yugi."  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"Are you still upset about what that person said about your parents?" He asked with concern.  
  
Yugi shook his head and continued to smile, finally turning to look at his grandpa. "Yami made it all better. It doesn't matter to me anymore."  
  
"That's good. You look a bit worn out though. Why don't you go to bed? I'm almost done here and will soon anyway."  
  
Yugi nodded and started up the stairs. Entering his bedroom the first thing he noticed was that someone was throwing rocks at his window. He hurried over to it and unlatched the lock, sticking his head out to see who it was.  
  
"Yami?" Yugi asked with surprise. "I thought you went home."  
  
"I did, but I wanted to give this to you," he pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Over the excitement of tonight and everything I sort of forgot about it until halfway home." He replaced the paper in his pocket and climbed up the tree to give it to Yugi, jumping back down to the ground afterwards. He waited expectantly though so Yugi was guessing he was waiting for a reply to whatever it was he gave him.  
  
Unfolding the paper he looked at it for a minute before he gasped. "Yami, this is beautiful.but why?"  
  
"I was inspired by the story Malik and Ryou told us at the park the day I called you a stalker. I've been working on it for a while and last night I decided I was going to give it to you, after a put the finishing touches on it."  
  
"Thank you, Yami. This means a lot to me."  
  
Yami smiled and turned back to the road.  
  
"Yami!" Yugi called him back. When Yami turned around he smiled and blew a kiss back to Yami. Yami smiled and pretended to catch it before waving goodbye.  
  
That night Yugi went to sleep with a smile on his face with an unknown visitor lurking in the shadows.  
  
"Well, my love. It seems that we really are destined to be together." The deceased Pharaoh Yami whispered into Yugi's ear, chuckling when Yugi rolled towards him and whispered his name back. "I'll always watch over you; you and my reincarnation."  
  
His crimson eyes turned to the picture sitting on Yugi's desk. 'My reincarnation will certainly be able to make Yugi happy if he can make pictures as beautiful as this.' His hand slid gracefully over the carefully pastelled sands. 'Looks exactly like home.'  
  
~~  
  
Well there's the end peeps!! Hope you all liked it. I wanted to put Pharaoh Yami in at the end to show that he was still watching over Yugi even in his death. Just wanted to clear that up in case some of you were like 'What's the point of the former Yami being there.' I thought it was a nice place to end. OH!! And for those of you who didn't get the picture that Yami gave Yugi, it was supposed to be a picture of Ancient Egypt with sands and pyramids and a shadow of the palace in the background with the sun coming up just behind it.  
  
And now!!!!!!! All you wonderful readers get to pick the next story. I've been working on most of them and I think only two are still in an outline form, but other than that I hope you enjoy your picks. Have fun!!  
  
To Tell You -Yugi leaves clues for Yami (Malik's idea) since everyone kept interrupting him when he tried to tell Yami how he felt for the whole week now.  
  
Unexpected Love - Marik's jealous, Bakura's lonely, Ryou is saddened and confused, and Malik can't see this because he's trying to find out if he really loves Ryou or not  
  
It was just a Game - Yugi is just a regular teen going through the regular problems. He's got great friends and a girlfriend he would never give up. What happens when his world is turned around by an unexpected visitor and in a weird arrival? It was just a game until a strange power surge made one of the characters in Yugi's favorite game a reality  
  
Out at Sea - Inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean; Bakura's a captain of his ship, The Sennen, along with his two top mates, Marik and Yami. Bakura kidnaps Ryou in order to keep from being killed from Ryou's father, the governor of the island, and Yugi and Malik follow for their own reasons.  
  
Train Ride - Story kind of like the movie On the Line  
  
Love is Unexplainable - Yami and Yugi are twin brothers who get separated when they're babies. They meet up again in high school and they fall in love with each and are very happy with each other until Yami's parents (both of their parents) tell Yami he can't date Yugi anymore and they tell him that Yugi's really his twin brother that he was separated from when they were babies. 


	21. Votes

Love is Unexplainable - 11  
  
Out at Sea - 14  
  
To Tell You - 17  
  
Unexpected Love - 8  
  
It was just a Game - 5  
  
Train Ride - 5  
  
Hey everybody! Just wanted to let you know that, by the votes, To Tell You is posted right now and you can find it at:  
  
Hope you enjoy 


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